


It's your eyes that make me smile

by astralelegies



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Ace/Aro Luke, Alternate Universe - High School, Don't Take This Too Seriously, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I am hsau trash, I just like writing silly stuff about these space dorks, M/M, Minor Canonical Character(s), Stormpilot, bluerey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 18:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 43,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5675755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralelegies/pseuds/astralelegies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>I see the light that’s shining from your eyes, blinding me / It’s like I’m walking down your street again at seventeen </em> </p><p>Or, Rey and Finn are theater geeks, the First Order is a (wannabe) metal band, Leia Organa is the principal of D'Qar High School, and everyone is trying to make it through their senior year without blowing up a planet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have a weakness for high school AUs and have been threatening to write one for at least a year now. In spite of the fact that I have no time for anything, I couldn’t resist starting something for my favorite space dorks. I have no idea where this is going to go or when it is going to go there, but hopefully at some point it will. Title from the song “Oh Yeah” by the Subways.

Rey woke up to the sound of incessant pounding on her front door and groaned. _Just five more minutes…_

The pounding stopped, which could only mean that Luke had let the blasted fiend into the house. 

“Good morning, Finn.”

“Good morning, Mr. Skywalker.”

“Rey,” Luke called, “your friend is here.”

Sighing, Rey extracted herself from her blankets and grumbled down the stairs to the entryway, where Finn was waiting with a smile entirely too bright for this hour of the morning.

“God, Finn, school doesn’t start for more than an hour, what is wrong with you?”

He just laughed. “Nice to see you too, Rey.”

“You’re gonna have to wait until I’m finished getting ready,” she said.

“That’s okay,” he replied, “I’ll make breakfast.”

Luke’s eyes twinkled, while Rey just shook her head. _As if he didn’t adore the kid enough already._

“In that case,” her (sort of) father said, “I’ll stay a little longer.”

“Don’t you have classes to prepare for?” Rey asked. “It is the first day.” 

“I’m sure my sister will forgive me.” 

Being related to your boss was probably helpful like that. And being the legal ward of the principal’s brother wasn’t so bad either. Not that she used that as an excuse to get herself into trouble. 

She took marginally longer getting ready than she usually did. It was a surreal feeling, knowing this was the first day of her senior year. Her last first day of high school. Which didn’t exactly mean the end of the world—this was _high school_ , after all—but it certainly meant change was coming, for better or for worse. 

By the time she made her way downstairs again, Luke was gone and Finn had a pile of pancakes stacked on the kitchen table, bacon frying on the stove. 

“You do know your way to a girl’s heart.”

“One I am wooing in strictly the most platonic of senses.” 

Rey couldn’t help grinning a bit. She remembered the start of their junior year, when they were still a little new at being friends and rather unsure of the other’s intentions. That had been a fun conversation. 

Finn tossed a piece of bacon at her. “Lost in thought?”

“Only my reminiscences of that time you thought I was hitting on you.” She caught it and stuffed it into her mouth. 

“I believe _you_ were the one who thought _I_ was hitting on you.”

Rey waved a hand. “It was probably both.” 

They scarfed down their breakfast, neither wishing to be late and face Principal Organa’s wrath on the first day back. It was a six block walk from the Skywalker residence to D’Qar High School, too short a distance to justify Rey’s pleas that she be allowed to ride a motorcycle to class. Not that she even had a motorcycle. Or her license. Finn liked to joke that she’d get certified to fly before drive, and at this point, he wasn’t far wrong. 

The campus looked much the same as ever, only slightly shinier and with less vandalism than usual. There was a prodigious crowd milling around outside, mostly composed of confused freshman and teachers giving directions or attempting to discourage delinquency. Rey caught sight of Luke in animated conversation with a few older students, waving a calculator around. _Nerds._ But she wasn’t really any different. 

“So what do you think?” Finn asked, and Rey blinked, realizing he’d been talking to her.

“Erm…what?”

He punched her arm. “Space cadet.” 

“Says the one who dropped a table on me last week because he was too busy thinking about something else.” 

His cheeks went red. “Whatever. I was asking you about the winter play this year. They’re announcing it at the end of the day. What d’you think it’ll be?” 

“I honestly have no idea,” Rey said, “but I hope they don’t try and make it unnecessarily straight again like last year.” 

Finn nodded. “The theater department does have a reputation for being extremely gay for a reason.”

“As do we.”

“Hey!” Finn’s eyes lit up. “Maybe this’ll be the year I finally get a boyfriend.”

Rey elbowed him. “Keep dreaming.”

“Maybe we can get you a girlfriend, too, Rey.”

“That isn’t a priority at this point.”

“Yeah, because you somehow inherited your dad’s science geek tendencies by osmosis and you want to be president of NASA or whatever.” 

“Or whatever.” Rey hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and set her jaw to kid herself into believing she wasn’t a tiny bit nervous. “Shall we go in?”

\----

Fortunately the two of them had homeroom together, which Finn spent the entirety of poking her shoulder and whispering ideas about the play across the aisle. 

“What about Rent? That’d be awesome.”

“They’re not gonna let us do Rent, Finn. And even if they did, they’d probably cut half the show for inappropriate content.”

“Hmph.” 

Afterwards, they parted ways, with Finn headed to precalc and Rey to literature. By this point Rey knew nearly all the teachers in the school, and even though she’d never had class with Ms. Kanata, she’d been to dinner a few times at the Organas' house. Rumor had it she was dating Mr. C, the German professor. 

Rey scanned the room for an empty spot, for a moment feeling the same prickle of unease in her stomach she’d had her first year here, then caught sight of the group at the back and sighed. _Great._ She just had to get stuck in a class with the entire First Order. 

They caught sight of her. 

“Oh look, it’s the scavenger.”

 _Why the hell does he insist on calling me that?_ Rey wondered for the umpteenth time. _It doesn’t even make any sense._

“Hello, Ben.”

His eyes narrowed. “It’s Ren. Kylo Ren.”

“And we all thought you’d gotten over your brooding phase,” Rey said. 

Kylo gritted his teeth. “It isn’t a _phase_. I’m in a band now.”

“With musical talent like that, you could audition for the winter play.”

“As if I’d ever do something like that. The theater department is so gay.”

Rey shrugged. “We’re proud of who we are. I doubt you can say the same.”

She took a seat as far away as she could get from her obnoxious adoptive cousin and his lackeys, Hux and Phasma. She wished Finn was here. He always came up with a sarcastic remark to mutter under his breath and make her laugh so hard people would stare at them. She didn’t mind being on her own—she was used to it by this point—but it did feel nice to have friends. _Being the weird kid is more fun when you have someone to be weird with._

As Ms. Kanata went over the course syllabus, Rey found her mind drifting to less academic matters. She glanced around the room to see who else was in the class aside from the First Order. Most were faces she recognized, even if she didn’t know them well, and she thought the girl sitting in front of her had been on tech crew before. _Jessika Pava_ , she remembered. And next to her was a boy with magnificently coiffed hair and brown jacket she was sure she’d seen before. GSA, maybe? But that couldn’t be right, or Finn would have been all over him already. 

Before long the bell rang, and before she could get halfway to her next lesson Finn was bolting towards her through the hall at breakneck speed. 

“Angels in America,” he said. 

“Definitely not.”

He wilted. “C’mon, Rey, it took me ten minutes to come up with that one.”

“It doesn’t mean we’re doing it.” 

“Hey, what do you have next?”

Rey consulted her schedule. “AP Physics.”

Finn made a face. “Lucky. Your dad’s teaching that, right? I’ve got chemistry with our least favorite dark acquaintances.”

“I just had them,” Rey said, “apparently they’re in a band now.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Joy. Well, I’ll do my best to resist setting Kylo’s hair on fire.” 

“A grievous task, to be sure. But I have faith in you.”

It seemed like the First Order were shaping up to be even bigger nuisances than last year. They’d have to be careful the pranking wars didn’t get out of hand like they had in the past. 

Rey gave a nod to Luke when she got to class and scanned the lab partner list for her name. _Rey Skywalker and Jessika Pava, table 12._ The other girl was already sitting there, reading a book. Rey approached her tentatively, feeling the echoes of that same nervous sensation from earlier. “Hey.”

Jessika looked up. “Hey. You’re Rey, right?”

“Yeah. And you did the set for _Much Ado about Nothing_. It’s Jessika, yeah?”

“Just Jess.” She smiled. “Are you going to be at the meeting afterschool?”

“Of course. Finn’s been pestering me with ideas about our next production all day.”

“I’m rather curious myself.” 

After that class started and they had to shut up, but Rey couldn’t take her mind off the other girl. It seemed silly that they’d never really spoken before now. Granted, actors and tech kids didn’t always get along, but still. Rey made a resolution to branch out more in her choice of colleagues this year. _It’s my last one here, after all. I don’t have much time left for that sort of thing._

The realization was a little terrifying, so she shoved it away. 

Physics was followed by ancient history with Mr. Solo, her adoptive uncle and the principal’s husband, who also happened to be the faculty advisor for the theater department. Finn spent the entire time trying to coax the identity of the winter play out of him, to no avail. He then spent all of lunch bouncing his ideas off Rey.

“Hamilton?”

“Too recent.”

“Next to Normal?”

“Not enough characters.”

“Rocky Horror?”

“ _No._ ”

Finn threw up his hands. “I give up. What _isn’t_ off-limits, if you know so much?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Rey said. “There’s a meeting after school today for veterans of the theater department, Mr. Solo will tell us then.”

“Mind if we sit here?”

Rey looked up to see Jessika Pava, along with Snap Wexley and the cool hair kid from earlier, standing with their trays. 

“Go ahead,” she said.

Finn kicked her under the table, and she saw that his gaze was directed at the latter of the three. _Oh boy. Here we go._

“I don’t believe I’ve met you before,” she told him, “I’m Rey.”

“Poe Dameron.” He shook her hand. 

Finn choked out something that sounded more or less like his name and took Poe’s hand as well. Rey suppressed a grin. It was going to be great fun teasing him about this later. They made small talk about teachers and subjects (“Mr. Ackbar assigned two pages of homework on the _first day_! He’s no fair.”) until Snap caught sight of something behind them and raised a concerned eyebrow.

“Here comes trouble.”

Rey saw Kylo Ren and the rest of the First Order approaching. _Just what we needed, more of these three idiots._

Finn folded his arms and glared at them. “What do you want?”

“Just to remind you about the annual first day dodgeball tournament,” Hux sneered. “You have gym next, don’t you?”

Oh right. That. 

“We’re going to crush you,” said Phasma. 

Kylo leaned in. “Have fun eating that meal. It’ll be your last.”

The table watched in silence as the three departed. 

“I knew I should’ve gotten my phys ed credit out of the way last year,” Finn groaned after they’d gone. 

“Dude, that Phasma chick is _ripped_ ,” Snap said, “I don’t envy you.” 

“Jess and I have gym next,” Poe remarked, “maybe we’ll be on the same team.”

“Oh please could you,” Finn begged him, “then we might actually have a chance. Remember last year at the junior class kickball game?”

Rey really didn’t want to. 

“We’re not going to let something like that happen again,” she said determinedly. “This time, we’re going to take them down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "Violet" by Jeremy Messersmith and "Tropical Oceans" by D.D Dumbo


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I have never actually played dodgeball. (Maybe like a kid-friendly version in elementary school? But I don’t know if that counts.) Chapter playlist: “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen and “Lazer Gun Show” by Hey Geronimo.

There was an uneasy quiet about the group as they departed the lunch room and made their way to the gym. Ordinarily Rey would be teasing Finn about his lack of sports-related inclinations, or vice versa, but neither of them had the stomach for it today. Jess and Poe appeared rather worried as well. 

Kylo’s warning, while not to be taken in the literal sense, had nonetheless succeeded in rattling Rey. She hadn’t played dodgeball since she was a freshman, and that—well. That incident was entirely unmentionable. And she certainly wasn’t about to let those events repeat themselves. 

She laced her sneakers with a fierce resolution and looked over at Jess. “You ready to win this thing?”

Jess nodded grimly, and the two walked out of the locker rooms together. Kylo and his crew were already waiting across the gym, arms crossed and scowls in place. Rey glowered at them right back. 

Finn came up beside her. “What if I have a serious leg injury and can’t play?”

“Nice try,” Rey said. 

“We’ve come too far to forfeit,” Poe contended, “given our long and storied history as a team.”

Jess managed half a smile. “I believe it’s been a whole twenty minutes now.” 

Mr. Ematt blew his whistle. “Alright, listen up. It’s time for the inaugural first day of class dodgeball game. By this point most of you are seniors so I shouldn’t need to put you into groups. Just spread yourselves out on either side of the line and we can begin.”

Rey looked at her teammates. “Let’s do this.” 

There were maybe thirty kids in the class, and slightly more than half of them had decided to venture over to the First Order’s side. Still, Rey was glad to see some of the other theater kids backing their own party up. Pamich Nerro and Brance were both dancers, so that meant they had some kind of athletic capability, right? And Karé Kun, the new captain of the women’s basketball team, was with them as well. Maybe they weren’t so outnumbered after all.

Then again, Phasma’s death glare could strike fear into the heart of a stone-cold killer. 

The coach blew his whistle and the game started. 

Rey had never been fond of activities involving flying objects coming perilously close to her head, which was probably one of the reasons she’d opted to pursue theater instead of sports. (Granted, theater also involved its fair share of such situations, but at least those didn’t crop up quite as frequently.) Even piloting, a distinctly precarious profession, had less risk of head injury. Pilots were required to wear helmets. 

She ducked as a somewhat spherical object went sailing over her head at a truly ferocious velocity and looked around for something to throw. There, to her left. She scooped up a ball and flung it as hard as she could in Kylo’s direction, missing him by a few inches. 

“You throw like a girl,” he shouted.

“I _am_ a girl,” Rey shot back in exasperation. 

A moment later Kylo lost his balance when a projectile launched by Jessika Pava hit him in the chest.

“Guess I throw like a girl too.” 

“Nice one, Jess!” Rey cheered, and her teammate looked at the floor, hiding a smile. 

Then Hux lobbed a ball that hit her in the shoulder and she was benched. Rey looked around at the rapidly dwindling number of players. The sides were more balanced now, with maybe eight participants left on each team, herself included, though that was mostly due to luck at this point. Finn was out now too, although he didn’t look particularly upset about it. 

“Rey, watch out!”

Poe’s warning came just in time for her to dodge Phasma’s fire. 

“Thanks for the heads up.”

She picked up the ball and threw it in Phasma’s general direction, missing spectacularly but managing, somehow, to hit another one of the opposing students. The numbers were really going down now. There were only three other people left on her team, and soon—

 _Ow._ She rubbed the part of her ribcage where the ball had struck and took her place on the bench next to Finn, watching as the game heated up.

It was down to Poe Dameron and Karé Kun against Hux and Phasma. In the blink of an eye Poe shot a projectile at Hux and he was down. Just as quickly, Phasma scooped up the ball and hit Poe in the leg, leaving it a one-on-one match.

Both girls paced slowly around their respective sides, waiting for the perfect opportunity to spring an attack. Suddenly, Phasma grabbed a ball and hurled it at Karé. Rey’s breath caught in her throat.

The women’s basketball captain caught it. Her side erupted into cheers. 

The volume of their enthusiasm nearly drowned out the First Order’s vindictive howling. Poe was the first to rush the floor, giving Karé a high five and a clap on the back, and Finn turned to Rey with stars in his eyes. 

“Who is that boy and why wasn’t he in my life before now?”

Rey laughed. 

“Seriously,” Finn said, “anyone who can take down Hux has my eternal respect.” 

Jess ran up to them, beaming. “That was _awesome._ ”

“Aw, we did nothing,” Finn dismissed, “you took down Kylo Ren. That’s fucking _brilliant_.”

Jess blushed. “Well, you two still helped. Come on, let’s go celebrate.”

They made their way to the center of the floor to congratulate the others and somehow got enfolded in a group hug that turned into everyone trying to lift Karé on their shoulders. It was a more difficult endeavor than the movies made it appear, but as her team raised their champion into the air, Rey wouldn’t have traded the look on Kylo’s face for all the money in the world. 

\----

After the euphoria of winning the dodgeball game, not even getting an hour’s worth of calculus homework could faze Rey. The rest of her classes flew by in a haze of course outlines and daydreaming until it was finally time for the theater department meeting. 

By the time Mr. Solo called for order, there were some forty kids assembled in the auditorium, actors and tech crew alike, with Finn and Rey at the head of the group. Rey noticed Jess sitting a few rows back with a girl from props. 

“I shouldn’t need to introduce myself,” Mr. Solo began, and an instant hush fell over the crowd. "You all know who I am, and why I’m here, and why you are here. It’s time for the unveiling of our winter play. I don’t see much use for formalities, so I might as well tell you now.”

Finn grabbed Rey’s hand and squeezed it hard. 

“And our winter production will be—drumroll, Snap.”

“Right.” Snap thrummed his fingers against the back of the seat in front of him, which happened to be Rey’s. 

“Our winter production will be… _Return to the Forbidden Planet_!”

There was clapping accompanied by Finn’s murmur of _damn it, I was hoping for Kinky Boots_.

Rey was intrigued.

“I haven’t heard of that one,” she said, “what is it?”

“Only the greatest tale of Shakespeare, 50s rock and roll, and B-movie sci fi antics ever created,” Mr. Solo declared. “Back in the day I starred in a production of it myself as Doctor Prospero. I tried to get Leia to audition for Gloria but she just laughed at me.” 

_That sounds about right_ , Rey thought. 

“I’ll announce it to the whole school at the end of the day tomorrow,” Mr. Solo continued, “and auditions will be in two weeks. If you have any objections, I’m not going to listen to them, but you can raise them now.” 

Finn raised his hand. “Are you going to make it aggressively straight again like last year?”

Han sighed. “I told you, that had nothing to do with me, it was all Snoke’s fault. But if you want to cross dress and cross cast the entire show then knock yourselves out. Only not literally, or else I’ll have a lawsuit on my hand.”

There were some giggles among the assembled students. 

“Anything else? Alright, meeting adjourned. Try not to get yourselves killed or pregnant or anything.”

Mr. Solo had an interesting take on the “be safe, make good choices” rhetoric that most teachers spouted. Still, for all his sarcasm and disaffected attitude, the students knew him as someone they could trust, and that could be a tricky thing at a public high school. 

Rey stayed after with Finn a few minutes, both promising to read the script and consult with each other as soon as they could get their hands on it, and then she headed out.

Luke was waiting when she got home.

Even now, Rey was never quite sure what to call him. Using his first name seemed too formal, but “dad” had never quite fit either. Maybe because, loath as she was to admit it, a small part of her was still hoping to find her real parents someday. Which made her feel horribly guilty, because it had been so kind of Luke to take her on all those years ago, so generous, when he didn’t even have to. She didn’t remember any of her foster homes very well, but she was sure none of them could have made her as happy as she was living here. Still, some corner of her brain couldn’t help feeling a sort of restless yearning for the truth about her origins. 

In the face of all that, she usually just avoided names altogether. 

“How was your first day?” he asked.

She grinned. “We crushed the First Order in a game of dodgeball.”

“I’m sure my nephew wasn’t very happy about that.”

“He swore vengeance against me and all my friends.”

“That sounds very him.”

Rey knew Kylo’s retribution was something she should be at least mildly concerned about, but for the moment she couldn’t find it in her to care. The new school year was off to a good start, she had the exciting prospects of a new play and new friends ahead of her, and the First Order had lost at dodgeball.

Things were going to go wrong eventually. They always seemed to. But for now, at least, the world was hers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "He's the Last Word" by Ben Bernie & All the Lads and "Bash Back" by Queer Rocket

**Big Deal (6:39am):** _skywalker, we have an emergency_  
**Big Deal (6:46am):** _ugh i know you live like six blocks from school or whatever but i need you to wake up and answer your damn phone_  
**Big Deal (7:01am):** _fine whatever i’ll just tell you in homeroom_

Rey looked at her phone and shook her head. She waited until she’d taken a shower and made breakfast before replying, knowing it would drive Finn up a wall. 

**Rey the gay (8:02am):** _Hold up I’m on my way_  
**Big Deal (8:03am):** _took you long enough_  
**Rey the gay (8:06am):** _Finn, this is the third time this month you’ve declared something an emergency_  
**Big Deal (8:08am):** _I fail to see your point._

He ran up to her before she was even through the door of the class. “So I’m assuming you’ve read all the character bios for the roles in our show, right?”

Rey stared at him. “I don’t see what this has to do with your supposed _emergency_.”

“Wait a second, will you? I’m getting there. So have you read them?”

She nodded.

“Right, well then, I was thinking of going out for Captain Tempest, unless you wanted to call dibs on that one.”

“I wanted to try for Doctor Prospero or Gloria myself,” she said, “but if I change my mind I’ll fight you about it later.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded. "Anyway, the love interest for Captain Tempest is Miranda, and I need you to help me convince Poe Dameron to audition for the part.”

“ _That’s_ your emergency?”

“…yes. Will you do it?” 

“It’s the third day of school.”

“True,” Finn agreed, “but he's cute and I'm single and a little bit desperate.”

Rey sighed. “Fine. But you’re going to have to figure out how to get him to listen to you. The theater department does have a history of scaring off new recruits with our…exuberance. We don’t even know the sort of things he’s interested in yet.”

Finn rubbed his hands together. “Don’t worry, we will soon. It’s time to begin Operation: find out more about Poe Dameron.”

\----

Rey had flat out rejected Finn’s proposition that she spy on Poe during literature. (“It’s not spying!” he’d protested. “It’s just strategically listening in on his conversations.”) As it turned out, she needn’t have worried about bothering with all that nonsense. The moment she walked into the room Poe and Jess waved her over to their table.

“Don’t look now, but Kylo’s in a foul mood,” Jess said, “and by foul I mean he’s been unusually quiet in his brooding with Hux and Phasma. I think they’re plotting something.”

“We have them for homeroom,” Poe explained. “They didn’t say _anything_ to us the entire time. It’s not like Kylo to pass up an opportunity for mockery.” 

“No, I know my cousin and that definitely isn’t him,” said Rey. 

“Wait,” said Jess, “your cousin?”

Rey made a face. “Sort of. It’s a long story.”

“Anyhow,” Poe continued, “I am concerned. It almost definitely has something to do with us.”

 _So we’re an “us” already_ , Rey thought. Aloud, she said, “Well, whatever it is they’ll have to gloat about it eventually, and then we’ll have a better sense of how to deal with their scheme.”

Jess took her homework out of her bag, frowning. “You’re probably right. But in the meantime their silence is unsettling.”

Rey agreed with her on that, although she regarded the First Order’s nefarious undertakings with only mild trepidation. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than the time Kylo had sharpied “loser” on all of her clothes in eighth grade. She pushed it to the back of her mind for the next few class periods in favor of following Finn’s ridiculous plan. 

Poe and Jess ate lunch with them again, which was when Finn opted to advance his objective to its later stages.

“So Poe. Rey and I are in theater. Jess does tech things. What is it you do?”

Rey snorted. _Very subtle, Finn._ He glared at her, although Poe didn’t seem to have noticed. 

“Depends, I guess,” the boy said. "My parents made me go out for soccer last spring, and that was okay, but it wasn’t really my thing.”

“What is your thing?” Finn asked, then reddened. “Sorry, that didn’t come out the way I intended.”

Poe grinned. “No worries. To tell the truth, I’m a bit unsure myself, sometimes. I have a secret fondness for pottery. I play guitar.”

Finn cast Rey a victorious glance. “Well if you’re into music you should audition for the winter play.”

“Maybe,” said Poe, “I have to admit, the premise of a Shakespearian sci-fi show sounds cool. But you probably have all the people you need for that already.” 

“Not necessarily,” Finn said quickly, “we’re always looking for new people. And it’s your senior year, you could even get a lead. You’d make a great Miranda.”

Poe laughed. “You think so?”

“Undoubtedly. I think you should go for it.”

“Well in that case maybe I will.” 

“Hey geek squad.”

Rey closed her eyes, pained. _Why him, why now?_

Kylo Ren was standing at the head of their table wearing an expression that, were it not for his insistence on maintaining his aura of darkness, Rey would have called gleeful. On either side of him were Hux and Phasma, the former looking malevolently cheerful and the later almost bored. 

“What is it this time?” she asked.

“Have you by any chance checked the audition sign-up sheet for the winter musical?” Kylo’s tone was suspiciously innocent.

Rey shook her head, feeling something like dread settle in her stomach.

Finn shot her a worried look. “Oh god what have you done.” 

“You little theater nerds encroached on our territory,” Hux said. “Now we’re moving into yours.”

Rey inhaled sharply. “Tell me you didn’t.” 

“We did.” Kylo smirked at her. 

Jess paled. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“It means you can look forward to the First Order stealing your spotlight for a change,” Phasma said. 

“As if you could,” Finn spat.

“We’re in a band,” said Kylo, “I think we can handle it.”

“We came to wish you luck,” said Hux. 

“You’ll need it,” whispered Kylo. His group withdrew to their corner of the lunch room. 

There were a few moments of stunned silence. Finn slowly lowered his fork.

“Skywalker, we have an emergency.”

\----

“This is a catastrophe.”

Finn was lying on the floor of Rey’s room staring bleakly up at the ceiling, a position he’d held with unwavering vigilance for the past hour and a half. 

“The theater department is supposed to be a First Order free zone. A safe haven. One sole assured place of asylum.”

“My aunt and uncle are coming over for dinner,” Rey said without much conviction. “We could try convincing them to dissuade Kylo from carrying out his plan.”

“That’ll just make him want to do it even more,” Finn groaned, “he’ll do anything if his parents are against it.”

“Damn teenage rebelliousness.” 

“He’s not coming with them, is he?”

“To dinner? No, thank god. He makes a point of avoiding family obligations at all costs.”

They spent a few minutes morosely contemplating their situation.

“We have to figure something out,” Finn said after a while. “Poe’s not gonna want to audition now that the First Order intend to do the show. Or worse: one of them gets cast as his love interest instead of me.”

Rey tried to think of a way out. “I don’t suppose it’s any use to hope they don’t have talent.”

Finn gave her a skeptical look. “They are in that band Kylo won’t shut up about.”

“Yeah.”

“Rey, Finn, dinner!”

Finn sighed and picked himself up off the floor. “Maybe I can at least talk to your uncle about my ideas for the show.”

Han Solo and Leia Organa were already seated when they arrived at the table. By this point Rey was mostly over the awkwardness of having her aunt for a principal, but Finn still found it intimidating. Even in her current despondent mood, Rey couldn’t suppress a grin as her friend nervously sat down and nearly fell out of his chair. He kicked her under the table. She stuck her tongue out at him.

“And now that we’re done acting like five-year-olds, let’s eat.” Luke passed around a bowl of spaghetti. 

“Hey Solo,” Finn said casually, “I hear your son’s thinking of auditioning for the winter musical.” 

Han nearly spat out his food. “Very funny. And don’t call me Solo.”

“I can cite Rey as a witness.”

“It’s true,” Rey told him.

Han and Leia exchanged a look.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” said Han.

“You have to convince him not to!” Finn begged. “Tell him it’s your lifelong dream to have a theater major for a son.”

“Not on my life.”

“But—

“No.”

“At least he’s getting involved in school activities,” Leia offered, somewhat dubiously.

“He’s going to insult the integrity of one of my favorite plays with his angst,” Han grumbled.

“He’ll probably turn all his songs into renditions of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ but death metal,” said Rey.

“That’s it, I am not allowing my son to ruin everything with his terrible taste in music.”

Finn turned to Leia. “Maybe you could give him detention for a month.”

“I can’t put him in detention just because he’s my son,” she said, “even if he could use the experience.”

Rey couldn’t resist the opportunity. She took out her phone.

**Rey the gay (6:28pm):** _Your mom is gossiping about you_  
**annoying cousin (6:33pm):** _god don’t even fucking talk to me_  
**annoying cousin (6:35pm):** _whats she saying_  
**Rey the gay (6:35pm):** _oh I don’t know, something about a detention, maybe_  
**annoying cousin (6:36pm):** _ugh my parents are the worst_  
**Rey the gay (6:37pm):** _They must be saints for putting up with you every day_  
**annoying cousin (6:38):** _ha ha ha_  
**annoying cousin (6:38):** _we’ll see whos laughing when the first order DESTROYS your stupid musical_  
**Rey the gay (6:39):** _If you can even get in_  
**annoying cousin (6:39):** _im in a band so_  
**annoying cousin (6:40):** _shut up_

“Rey, no texting at the table.”

“Sorry.” She put her phone away at Luke’s stern frown. “Kylo’s definitely planning on doing this.”

“Right.” Finn stood. “Come on, Rey. We’ve got work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No disrespect to any pop punk and/or death metal fans out their. To each their own style of music.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist: “Sing Me Spanish Techno” by the New Pornographers, “Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis, and “There is Only Today” by Consume the Fire.

Once it sank in that there was nothing they could do about the First Order’s quest for retribution, Rey and Finn had to come up with a new plan of action. 

“We’ll have to crush them at auditions,” Finn said. “At least that way we can be assured of beating them out for the good parts.”

He’d even convinced Poe to go for Miranda. Rey had to admire his tenacity. 

“I can’t believe I never talked to him before now,” Finn told her the day before auditions. “I was working on his song with him last week and _god_ , I think his voice could actually cure diseases or end world hunger.”

Rey laughed. “You’re enamored with him.”

“I am not! I just admire his talents. And his beautiful, beautiful face.”

“And want him to play your love interest onstage?” she ventured innocently.

He punched her shoulder. “ _That_ is purely academic interest.”

“Academic. Right.” 

Rey couldn’t tell if he was actually in denial or only pretending. Either way, it was nice having new friends. Poe and Jess had been hanging around them more often, at lunch and during gym, which had turned out to be the one class they all had together. If any semblance of something good had come from the First Order’s antics, they’d brought the four of them together. Not that Rey was going to waste a minute being grateful to those assholes. 

It was lunchtime on an unseasonably warm mid-September day and the four of them were taking the opportunity to bask in the sunlight before the inevitable cold set in.

“What d’you think?” said Poe. “Is it almost winter yet?”

“God I hope not,” said Finn, “it’s only just gotten to be fall.”

“It’ll get chilly out soon enough regardless.” Jess flopped back onto the grass. “Look at us, talking about the weather. Rey, think of something interesting for us to discuss.”

“Why me?” she protested.

“Because if I leave it to Finn he’ll just start going off about theater again.”

“Um,” Rey started eloquently, “the first GSA meeting is tonight?”

“I’ve never been to one,” Poe remarked.

“I went once last year,” Jess said, “but then the robotics team made it to nationals, plus I was head builder for Much Ado, so I got too busy to go back.”

“You both should come tonight,” said Finn, “the upperclassmen have a secret betting pool on which of the freshmen turn out gay by the end of the year.”

“That feels invasive,” Poe murmured. 

Finn shrugged. “None of it is serious, of course. But anyway, it’s always a good time.”

“Then we should go. Jess?”

“Fine by me. I don’t have anything else to do tonight.” 

The GSA kickoff was always one of its biggest meetings of the year. Rey remembered her first time going, a timid sophomore who knew no one and had more questions than answers about her own identity. _It’s amazing how things don’t change._

The club met twice a month, plus special events, in the band room. With no official leadership or staff advisor it was always a chaotic gathering, but there were usually a few seniors willing to keep people in line and get work done. This year those duties fell to Rey and Finn. 

Rey clapped her hands. “Okay, listen up, it’s time for the meeting to start.”

Her words made a dent in the noise, but the palaver continued at a dull roar.

“Stop talking or I’ll subject you to my playlist of the catchiest musical theater songs of all time,” Finn shouted.

“Oh god no,” someone said, and for the most part everyone shut up.

“Thank you, Finn.” Rey turned to face the crowd amassed ahead of her. “Alright, before we begin, how many of you are new to GSA?”

About a third of the assembled students’ hands went up.

“Welcome, everyone. It’s nice to see so many of you. We’ll start by doing introductions. Name, pronouns, fun fact about yourself, and sexuality and/or gender identity if you’re comfortable saying. Finn, would you like to start us off?”

He nodded. “Well, as she said, I’m Finn, and I’m a senior. He/him pronouns, pretty gay. Oh, and I prefer Next Gen to the original series of Star Trek.”

“That’s blasphemy!” someone gasped. 

Finn grinned. “Bite me. Okay, who’s next?” 

The introductions continued around the room in a similar fashion. Rey felt Finn tense beside her when it came to Poe’s turn. _So he is interested._

But before Poe could introduce himself the First Order decided to show up.

Rey crossed her arms, staring at where they stood in the doorway. “What do you want?” 

Kylo scowled at her. “To come to the meeting, what else?”

“You’re not here just to harass us, are you?”

“Believe it or not, cousin, not everything I do revolves around ruining your life.”

“Of course not. You seem to be perfectly content ruining other people’s lives as well.”

“Look, are you going to let us come in or not?” Phasma snapped. “You and your friends don’t have a monopoly on being gay, you know.” 

The three of them walked in before Rey could think of an apt reply. She supposed they had as much right as anyone to be here (and perhaps the activity would actually do her idiot cousin some good), but she had the unpleasant feeling that their presence was going to cause trouble. Sure enough, not five minutes later she heard Kylo sigh loudly from his place at the back of the room. 

“Kylo, do you have something you want to say?”

He was leaning back in his chair and wearing an apathetic expression. “I just don’t see why you and Finn should get to be the leaders. Isn’t this sort of thing supposed to be put to a vote?”

Rey grit her teeth in frustration. “The GSA doesn’t elect officials. It’s an open forum for anyone who wants to participate and the upperclassmen takes turns keeping order.”

“If you wanted to be in charge you should’ve gotten here on time,” said Finn. 

“You already practically run the theater department,” Hux retorted, standing, “why do you have to extend your dictatorship here too?”

“Yeah!” Kylo leapt to his feet as well.

Finn rolled his eyes. “You’re not democracy’s champion, Kylo, stop acting like you have the right to tell us what to do.” 

“Someone has to topple your throne of power.”

“Shut up, Hux!” 

“Hey Phasma, help us out,” Kylo called. 

She looked up from her phone, which she’d been using to take pictures of the proceedings. “ _He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces._ Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_.”

“That’s a great book,” said Jess.

“I know,” said Phasma. 

“You scare me,” said Finn. 

Rey could feel a headache coming on. In a matter of minutes the meeting had dissolved into chaos once more. The other attendees were documenting the incident on social media or talking in groups. She glanced at the clock and saw they only had a half hour left until it was time to go. _Looks like we’re not going to get anything else done today._ Rather than attempt to call everyone to attention, an entirely useless endeavor at this point, she snuck out the back exit. 

A short while later Jess joined her. 

“No one has broken anything yet,” she informed her. “Half the students have left and the others are now choosing sides, though what precisely they’re fighting about no one really seems to know.”

Rey buried her head in her hands. “At this rate we won’t get a single new member this year.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Jess said, “to hear people tell it this is the most drama the club’s had in years. Some of them will stay just for that.”

“That’s not entirely a good thing,” Rey pointed out. 

Jess shrugged. “Maybe. But the people with real commitment won’t let something like this get in the way.” 

“I suppose you’re right.” Rey stood. “What do you think, should we throw ourselves back into the line of fire?”

“We might as well.” Jess grinned. “Someone has to stop those poor fools before they hurt themselves.”

\----

The next day at exactly 3:13 PM the four of them stood waiting in front of the doors to the auditorium amidst a crowd of similarly anxious auditionees. 

“Solo said he’d show up at 3:15,” Finn said, pacing, “but I wouldn’t put it past him to be late.”

“ _Him_ is standing right behind you.”

Finn made a sound that could have been classified as a squeak as he stepped aside to allow Mr. Solo to unlock the entrance. 

“No sign of Kylo and the others,” Rey murmured, “perhaps they’re not going to do it after all.” 

“One can only hope,” Poe said. 

He seemed nervous. Rey didn’t blame him—she was on edge herself, and this wasn’t her first audition. 

“You’ll do great,” she whispered.

He gave her a weaker version of his customary smile as they took their seats in the second row. “Thanks.” 

“This is where I go join the tech conference,” Jess said. "Best of luck to all of you! Crush the First Order.”

“We will,” Rey promised.

“Hopefully,” Finn added. 

“Well, if Kylo gets a lead I’ll convince Lor San Techie to put me on the lighting crew and make sure nobody can see him when he’s onstage.” 

“Effective, but would get you fired,” Finn observed.

“They can’t fire me, I’m one of their best workers. Besides, this is high school.”

Han Solo clapped his hands and what little conversation there was died instantly. 

“You know the drill. Everyone will go through and do their sixteen-bar song cut, and afterwards I’ll put you into groups to do cold reads from the script. Since I know we could sit here waiting a half hour for someone to go first I’ll go down the list alphabetically. If you have a problem with that, leave.” 

Finn raised his hand. “Will that be first names or last names?” 

“It’ll be whatever I choose, kid, unless you’d like to volunteer to go first?”

Finn shut his mouth. As the event commenced, Rey felt the prickle in her stomach turning into a full-blown knot of worry. It wasn’t that she felt threatened, per se, since as a senior who had been with the program for this long she was basically guaranteed _something_ , but the First Order still hadn’t shown up and that was cause enough for concern. 

It was Poe’s turn now. The boy shakily got to his feet and opened his guitar case. 

“My name is Poe Dameron and I’ll be performing a song from the movie _Inside Llewyn Davis._ ” 

He strummed his opening chords, starting to sing, and…

“I can see why you like him so much,” Rey murmured to Finn. 

He frowned at her. “Shh. I’m listening.”

Poe’s voice was _gorgeous._ As in, knock the wind out of you, lying on the floor of your room listening to it on repeat amazing. Rey had figured he’d be pretty good, but this went way beyond her expectations. _He’ll have a major role in the bag no problem_.

“Was that okay?” he asked them when he was finished.

“Dude,” Finn said, “I don’t even know where to begin.” 

Eventually it came to be his turn, and not long after Rey’s followed. She thought they both did rather well, and certainly there seemed to be few whose acts compared with theirs. Pamich Nerro put on a strong showing, as always, and so did some others. There could be some stiff competition this year, especially if the First Order finally turned up.

Which they hadn’t yet, and it was now causing Rey definite distress. _What are they planning?_ She looked to where the curtain hung, obscuring the stage. She could’ve sworn she’d seen it ripple. 

They were down to the last name on the list, and there was still no sign of her cousin and his companions.

“I guess he didn’t come after all,” Mr. Solo mumbled when the harried-looking freshman was through. “Alright, we’re going to move on to the reading—

He was interrupted by a pronounced creaking sound as the curtains swung slowly open, revealing a drum kit, several amps, and the entire First Order in the center of the stage. 

“You’re not finished just yet,” said Kylo. "We haven’t even done our song.”

Han shook his head. “You always did have a flare for the dramatic. Well, proceed.” 

Hux beat out the opening drum line and Phasma started up a killer electric guitar solo. 

“We are the First Order," Kylo breathed into the mic, “and this is Consume the Fire’s ‘There is Only Today.’” 

He began half-screaming some unintelligible lyrics. 

“I hate to admit it, but they’re actually not that bad,” Rey commented. 

“We might have some real rivals on our hands,” Poe agreed.

“Oh shit,” Finn said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "Live Wire" by AC/DC and "Suffragette City" by David Bowie.

_Return to the Forbidden Planet_ Cast List:

Captain Tempest....... Finn 

Miranda....... Poe Dameron

Gloria....... Phasma Storm

Doctor Prospero....... Rey Skywalker

Ariel....... Pamich Nerro

Cookie....... Ben Solo

Bosun....... Armitage Hux

Navigational Officer....... Kaydel Ko

Newsreader....... Korr Sella

Chorus.......

Aria Zarander, Inara Basai, Cait Kilmer,

Robi Reyal, Obrin Masha, Saani Shaia, Tandra Black,

Eriobea Golladio, Aralah Senesca, Bianca Brin, Miko Sol, Iolo Arana

Eben Yaley, Emilia Garoute, Ursula Nissan, Hestia Jax, Jo Caballa, Sebastian Valen

 

Finn let out a whoop of triumph upon reading the list.

“We did it!” he crowed. “My plan actually worked.”

“This may well be the first time in history that’s happened,” Rey said. 

“I am so happy right now I will let that one pass.” 

_So Phasma is going to play my wife_ , Rey thought. _Interesting._

“Move out of the way, losers.” Kylo shoved a few freshman aside to stand in front of the list. A moment later he screeched. 

“Who the _hell_ is Cookie?”

“The spaceship’s cook,” Finn said, trying (and failing) to keep a straight face, “didn’t you read the script?”

“My character’s named after a fucking _pastry_ ,” Kylo groaned. “My stupid father did this just to spite me.” 

Rey hid a smile behind her hand. “If you didn’t want to get a part, Kylo, you shouldn’t have auditioned.”

He rounded on her. “Whatever. I’d better get a badass song or there is going to be hell to pay.” 

Hux and Phasma had appeared behind him. _Never apart, the three of them. It’s such a shame._ Phasma snorted upon seeing her role and turned to Finn.

“I’ll look forward to getting to win arguments with you onstage for a change.”

Finn gulped and nodded slightly, shooting Rey a look that said _help me she’s intimidating and I’m afraaaaaid_. 

“And what about arguing with me?” Rey asked. “Since you’re my wife, and all.”

“I’ll look forward to that too,” Phasma said, voice low. 

Rey wasn’t sure whether or not she should be scared by this. When in doubt, the answer was probably yes. 

“I can’t believe I got _Bosun_ ,” Hux grumbled. “That’s practically as bad as Spear Carrier Number One.”

“That’s still better than being called Cookie,” said Kylo. 

Rey was torn between telling them to grow up and informing Hux that no, the bosun was not the same as Spear Carrier Number One, because he had part of a song and a fair few lines to boot so he should be grateful for that. Before she could settle on either option Poe, Jess, and Snap Wexley arrived.

“Dude!” Snap gave Poe a high-five. “You got the part! That’s awesome. Now Jess and I can share all the juicy tech crew gossip with you and you’ll actually know what we’re talking about.”

Hux looked up from his phone. “Did someone say gossip?”

“You’re not invited,” Snap told him.

Hux flipped him a manicured middle finger. Poe turned to Finn. 

“I’m a little bit terrified,” he confessed, running an absentminded hand through his hair.

“You’re going to be _magnificent_ ,” Finn assured him. 

“Just get married already,” Hux muttered, rolling his eyes, and Finn pretended not to hear.

Jess smiled at Rey. “Congratulations.”

“Th—Thank you,” Rey said, “I guess you won’t have to resort to becoming the lighting designer after all.”

“It’s a good thing, too. I’m much better at building sets.”

“I’m sure you’ll do wonderfully.”

“Back at you.”

They looked at each other for a few awkward moments, neither quite sure what to say next. 

“Um,” said Jess, “see you in class?”

Rey nodded. “Class. Yeah.”

The rest of the day passed slowly and uneventfully. Rey was distracted by the prospect of the first rehearsal looming ahead after school. Having to share it with the First Order made for a less than promising scene, but she couldn’t help feeling excited. It was about damn time for the theater department to be up and running again. 

_It’s been a long summer_ , she thought. 

They started with the typical first rehearsal formalities—introducing themselves and their characters, passing out scripts, Mr. Solo and Finn having their inaugural battle of wit and willpower.

“I’m just saying, maybe we blow the budget this year and put in some pyrotechnics.”

“That is completely pointless and a waste of money,” Mr. Solo said flatly. 

“But it’d be _awesome_ ,” Finn protested, “and besides, shouldn’t I get a say in this since I’m Captain Tempest and it’s my spaceship?”

“I am never giving you a lead role again.”

“Do they always do this?” Poe asked Rey in an undertone. 

“Finn and my uncle enjoy a good argument,” she said. “It’s their form of bonding.” 

She cast a surreptitious glance at the First Order, lounging in a shadowy clump on their side of the circle. They’d been suspiciously complacent thus far, especially considering the fact that Kylo was deigning to be in the same room as his father. The two had been studiously ignoring each other since the start. 

_Why did Mr. Solo have to go and give the First Order leads too?_ Rey moped. It was highly unnecessary for them all to have roles. Couldn’t at least one of them have been in the chorus? Her obnoxious cousin, for example? It was bad enough having to deal with him and his friends in class every day.

They managed to get five whole minutes into the first read through without a fight, and then calamity struck.

“Wait a minute, I have to be in love with _him_? Poe Dameron?”

“It’s just a play, Ben, it doesn’t have to be that big of a deal.”

“Don’t you _dare_ call me Ben! It’s _Kylo Ren_ now, dad, _god_ , you mess everything up.”

Kylo had leapt to his feet at the start of his diatribe, script pages scattered across the floor of the stage in the heat of the moment. Han Solo was rubbing his brow tiredly, having given up on trying to contain the situation. 

“Look, if you’ll just sit down so we can continue—

“ _Sit down?_ You can’t just tell me what to do all the time!”

“ _That is literally the point of a director, Ben._ ”

“ _Stop calling me BEN_!”

“I reject the notion that being in love with me is a laborious task,” said Poe quietly, interrupting them. 

_Poe, you poor idiot, don’t throw yourself onto the battlefield,_ Rey thought. She could tell from Finn’s alarmed expression that he echoed her sentiments. Kylo stalked up to where Poe was sitting. 

“Who gave you the right to be so narcissistic?” 

“You’re one to talk about narcissism, Kylo.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, asshole?” Kylo took a step towards him.

Poe danced out of his reach. “I’m not afraid of you.” 

Mr. Solo was on his feet now too, looking more hassled than truly perturbed. “Both of you, stop it or I’ll call my wife in to deal with you.”

Under ordinary circumstances that would have been a warning to induce fear in the hearts of even the mightiest, but the boys, caught up in their quarrel, paid it little heed. 

“I don’t like your attitude, Dameron,” said Kylo, crossing his arms.

“Likewise,” Poe shot back. 

Hux stalked over to join them. “You’re picking a fight with the wrong crew.”

“You leave him alone!” Finn jumped up. 

“What are you going to do about it?”

What he was going to do, as it turned out, was rush to Poe’s side precisely as the other boy was moving towards him, causing them to collide (against improbable odds) in the general vicinity of Kylo’s foot, which Poe promptly tripped over. In the process he toppled off the stage, and everyone in the room gave a collective wince.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled from the floor after a moment, “but, um, I think I’m bleeding.”

 _It’s like a scene out of a shoujo manga or a stupid high school drama movie or something_ , Rey thought, her horror mixed with incredulity. 

“And this would be why it’s not a good idea to start fights precariously close to the edge of the stage.” Mr. Solo sighed. “Somebody get Dameron some bandages, and keep your mouths shut so we can continue the read through, or I’m suspending the lot of you.”

\----

Afterwards, while Finn escorted a somewhat battered Poe to his bus stop, Jess accompanied Rey for part of her walk home.

“I caught the train today,” she said in response to Rey’s protestations, “so it’s not like I’m going that far out of my way, and this way you won’t have to be alone. There’s a station in a few blocks I can wait at. And in the meantime, I could hardly pass up the opportunity to hear about today’s harrowing events.”

“I take it the tech crew meeting wasn’t quite so lively?”

“Practically yawn-worthy in comparison to the stories I’ve heard circulating.” 

Rey raised an eyebrow. “So they’re spreading rumors already?”

“It was hard to miss the bandage around Poe’s head,” Jess pointed out, “not to mention a couple of nasty bruises. People are saying he started a knockdown fight with the First Order.”

“It wasn’t quite that dramatic. Kylo got into an argument with his father which turned into one with Poe, and then Hux and Finn joined in, and then Poe somehow managed to fall off the stage.”

“That’s almost impressive,” Jess said. 

“Well, he’s not the only one to have fallen off a stage in his time.”

“No way, you too?”

Rey looked down at the sidewalk. “Well. No use dredging out old memories.”

“I sense there’s a story here.” Jess winked at her conspiratorially. “I’ll allow you your mysteriosity this time, but don’t go thinking you’re off the hook.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

It was nice, this. Walking together, watching the leaves change color. Rey’s favorite season had always been spring—seeing all that green wake up still managed to surprise her, even at seventeen—but autumn was enjoyable too. There were sweaters and mugs of tea and the school year hadn’t started wearing thin yet. It was like spring in reverse.

“So, you going to homecoming this year?” Jess asked conversationally. 

“Maybe.” Rey shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I figured I’d just skip it or go with Finn like I did for junior prom.” 

“You could always go with me. I mean, as friends,” Jess clarified quickly. “We’ve never really hung out before, and a sweaty, darkened gymnasium full of sexually frustrated adolescents is as good a place to start as any.”

Rey laughed. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” 

“Good.” Jess gave her a smile. “I can sense it’s going to be a night to remember.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Homecoming playlist: “Walking Backwards” by Leagues, “Paralyzer” by Finger Eleven, “Youth Allowance” by Northeast Party House, “Midnight City” by M83, and “Crew Love” by Gemini.

The night of homecoming arrived on the first Friday of October. It was shaping up to be a dusky, sultry evening, and Rey sat in her room trying to think of a way to pass the time. Luke was at the school already, having volunteered for some unfathomable reason to be a chaperone, and Jess wasn’t set to pick her up until 7:30. It was barely past seven now. The dance began at eight. Finn had been mad that she was going without him, but he was facing disciplinary action for the fight, and anyway, she knew he’d been secretly wanting to ask Poe to be his date. She decided to text him while she waited. 

**Rey the gay (7:07pm):** _Have you and the First Order killed each other yet_  
 **Big Deal (7:09pm):** _no one’s killed anyone_  
 **Big Deal (7:09pm):** _surprisingly_   
**Big Deal (7:10pm):** _also screw u for ditching me_  
 **Rey the gay (7:11pm):** _Well you could have gone with Poe only SOMEONE had to get into a fight with my idiot cousin_  
 **Big Deal (7:13pm):** _no fair, he started it_  
 **Big Deal (7:14pm):** _principal organa is making the four of us work the concessions booth together and it’s the WORST_  
 **Rey the gay (7:15pm):** _You’re lucky she didn’t give you detention_  
 **Big Deal (7:16pm):** _but reeeeeey you don’t even know the kind of hell I’ve already had to go through tonight_  
 **Rey the gay (7:17pm):** _Do tell_  
 **Big Deal (7:23):** _im a stupid dork with no taste in clothes or boyfriends_  
 **Big Deal (7:24pm):** _sorry hux took my phone_  
 **Big Deal (7:24pm):** _this is exactly what I’m talking about_  
 **Big Deal (7:25pm):** _his insults aren’t even GOOD rey it’s like he’s not even bothering to dignify me with the proper amount of disrespect_  
 **Big Deal (7:27pm):** _you have to come save me, sooner or later someone’s gonna have to leave to use the bathroom and then the pranking will begin_  
 **Rey the gay (7:28pm):** _gotta go, my ride’s here_  
 **Big Deal (7:28pm):** _you are the actual worst_

Rey slipped her phone into her pocket as she opened the door. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jess paused. “I like your dress.”

“Thank you,” said Rey, “it has pockets!”

She shoved her hands into them and twirled to demonstrate, lacey skirt fanning out around her like a purple cloud. 

“Well now. If more dresses had pockets I might actually wear them.”

Jess was done up in a white silk button-down, black jeans, and blazer, complete with combat boots and a bow tie. 

“You look spiffy,” Rey told her.

She blushed, or maybe that was just a trick of the light. “Oh, thanks. I do try.”

“Shall we go?”

Pop jams were already blaring from the gym when they arrived, loud enough for the baseline to make the floorboards vibrate. Rey could see multicolored lights flashing from the doorway as they bought their tickets.

“Let’s go see what kind of trouble Finn and Poe have managed to get themselves into,” she said.

“Don’t you want to dance first?”

“We can dance later. First we’ll go be heroes.”

“If you say so. Heroes it is.”

They found Poe and a rather disgruntled-looking Finn exchanging sugared products for wrinkled, sweat-sticky bills. Finn frowned at the one that had just been handed to him.

“This has lipstick on it.”

“Grow up, Finn, it could be worse,” Hux scoffed, plucking it out of his fingers. 

“You four look cheerful,” Rey called above the din of the music, walking up to them.

“No we don’t,” they chorused.

“This is actually torture,” Kylo said from the back of the booth, where he didn’t appear to be doing much other than pretending to restock supplies. 

“You’re telling me,” sighed Finn. “How many more hours do we have to be here?”

Poe handed him a fistful of coins for the register. “Too many.”

Finn leaned across the counter. “You have to break us out of here, Rey. I don’t know how much longer I can take this.”

It was meant to be a conspiratorial whisper, but above the surrounding pandemonium, it came out as a half-shout heard by everyone.

“If he gets to escape then I want out too,” Kylo demanded.

“And me,” said Hux.

Everyone looked at Poe.

“I might as well come too.”

Jess folded her arms, turning to Hux and Kylo. “Why should we help you? Just last week you stood up and gave a speech in literature about how we’re sworn enemies.”

“And this doesn’t change any of that,” Kylo assured her. “I just don’t want to spend one second longer in your presence than I already have to.”

“Same here,” said Finn, “but that doesn’t mean I’m helping you.”

“Everything alright here?”

Both groups had a collective panicked moment of _oh shit, Principal Organa._

Her tone was calm and pleasant, but Rey could hear the steel lurking in her aunt’s voice. _It’s like she has a sixth sense for rule breaking and insubordinate teens._

“We’re fine,” Poe said smoothly, handing her a clipboard with records of their sales. “We’ve already made more than a third of our anticipated revenue.”

“Indeed.” Principal Organa pierced them all with a knowing look. “It’s nice to see you working together for a change. Don’t hesitate to tell me if there’s any trouble.”

She gave them one last astute frown and moved away again.

Finn let out his breath in a rush. “That was close.”

“Now do you see how my parents are evil?” Kylo groaned. 

“Rey, Jessika, you have to get us out of here without her noticing,” Finn pleaded. “I might actually die soon from exposure to Kylo’s impressive amount of teenage angst.”

“Also, Hux keeps threatening to show us some video about military maneuvers which I’m pretty sure is just weird porn,” Poe added. 

“ _Did not need to know_ ,” shouted Jess, covering her ears.

Hux gave a shameless shrug. “I figured these two imbeciles could use some sex advice.”

“For the love of all that is holy if you want my help then we are _not having this conversation_ ,” Rey said.

“If you don’t help us then I’m telling the principal you attempted to sabotage our punishment,” Kylo replied in retaliation. 

“You were begging me literally minutes ago to get you out of here.”

“Maybe, but she doesn’t know that.”

Rey glared at him. “Fine. How do you propose we go about rescuing you?”

“I resent your putting it like that,” he sniffed.

“It is kinda true though,” Hux pointed out. 

Jess got an odd glimmer in her eyes. “I think I have an idea.”

\----

As was the nature of high school in general, the plan Jess came up with was unnecessarily complicated, and each of them knew it. _But after all, what is life without a convoluted scheme every once and a while?_ Rey thought. _Especially at an otherwise uneventful homecoming dance._

Stage one of the operation was paying off a few of the tech kids to act as decoys.

Snap raised an eyebrow upon seeing who he would be replacing. “Um…I really don’t think I look enough like any of them to merit my involvement.” 

“From a distance you could make a passable Kylo,” said Rey.

“I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.”

“You won’t need to play the part for long,” Jess assured him, “and if anyone thinks to inspect things closer we’ll have an emergency warning system in place to get you out of there.” 

“By which she means all-caps texting,” Rey put in, “so keep your phone on.”

After that came preparations for the employment of the distraction, while Rey made sure their cover wouldn’t be blown once it had ceased holding the principal’s attention. 

**Rey the gay (8:25pm):** _I need to ask a favor._  
 **Rey the gay (8:25pm):** _When Aunt Leia asks if someone will keep an eye on the concessions booth you are going to volunteer, and when she checks in with you about it later tell her Finn and Kylo were doing some bickering but for the most part the four boys are working grudgingly together, you’re rather surprised._  
 **Luke (8:26pm):** _I’m not even going to ask._  
 **Rey the gay (8:26pm):** _Good. The less you know the safer you are._  
 **Luke (8:27pm):** _Should I be concerned?_  
 **Rey the gay (8:28pm):** _Not more than usual. I promise I won’t go getting myself or anyone else into trouble._  
 **Luke (8:28pm):** _Well, I guess that’s all that matters._

“I’ve got the chaperone situation taken care of,” Rey announced. 

“Then everything is in place.” Jess took her arm, addressing her words to the others. “We’ll make sure everything goes according to plan and let you know when the coast is clear.”

They maneuvered themselves over to the teachers’ corner, keeping to the shadows on the sidelines of the gym. The adults’ primary haunt was directly opposite from the booth, but with so many teenagers in such close proximity packing the floor between the two sides in the dim lighting, it was difficult to see Finn and the others. _Perfect._

One of the secretaries approached Principal Organa. “Ma’am, there’s a call for you on line one. Someone named Shara Bey?” 

“Oh, yes, she attends the PTA meetings.” The principal turned to the staff members she’d been conversing with. “You’ll have to excuse me. Would one of you mind keeping an eye on the concessions booth for me while I’m out?”

“I’ll go supervise them to make sure there’s no trouble,” Luke offered. 

His sister grinned at him. “You’re a wonder.” 

“All is as we had intended so far,” Jess whispered, quite close to Rey’s ear. “I texted Poe’s mom to tell her he’s getting a D in calculus. Once the principal’s on the phone with her it’ll be at least a half hour before she takes her first breath.”

Rey hoped they’d have at least a little bit of free time before Principal Organa returned and their revelry would need to end, or she’d just end up spending all of the next day listening to Finn complain about the First Order. (She’d already decided at the advent of this endeavor on allotting half a day for his grumblings. Having to settle for more was a less than tempting prospect.) 

They notified the boys of the success of their venture, however temporary it could prove to be, and waited until Snap and the others were in place to sneak out. 

“They’ll be our sentries,” Jess told them.

Rey wondering what part of being on guard necessitated impersonations. 

They made for a back hallway, one of the few away from the scrutiny of adult supervision.

“So…what now?” Poe asked.

Jess shrugged. “I dunno, enjoy the dance, I guess? And make sure you don’t get caught.”

“But if you do, leave us out of it,” Rey said.

“Screw that, if Principal Organa finds me I’m implicating every one of you,” Hux told them. 

Finn, who had been walking a few paces ahead of them and listening with intent amusement to the conversation, bumped into someone moving in the opposite direction. A rather tall, I-could-kill-you-three-ways-right-here seeming someone wearing a full-length silver gown. 

“Watch where you’re going,” Phasma growled.

He squeaked and retreated a few paces. 

“What are you doing here?” Rey asked.

Phasma looked annoyed. “Attending a stupid school function, same as you.” 

“Why are you in a dress?” asked Finn.

“Not a word,” she hissed through gritted teeth. 

“But you don’t—

“I will end you. Are we clear?” She muttered something about a mix-up and stupid parents, and then turned to Hux and Kylo. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were stuck spending the evening passing out snacks with the idiot squad.”

Finn let out an indignant squawk while Hux cackled. 

“We busted out,” said Kylo, “and now we’re avoiding the authorities.”

“And it just so happened to be the idiot squad’s idea,” Rey added, leveling a sharp stare at Phasma.

The other girl granted her an equally intense look. “Interesting.”

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_ Before Rey could say anything about it she felt Jess slip a protective arm around her waist. 

“Seems to me you losers have better things to do than stand around here attempting to mock us.”

“I wasn’t mocking you,” said Phasma quietly. 

“Whatever, I’m getting out of here.” Hux jerked his head at Kylo. “You coming?”

“Dances are lame.” He paused. “Fine, I guess so. Phasma?” 

“Sure.” 

“You’d better remember to warn us if you see Principal Organa coming,” Finn shouted after them.

“Only if you promise to do the same,” Hux called back. 

“Good riddance,” Jess mumbled once they’d left. “What next?”

“Into the dance, I suppose,” said Poe. 

They made their way to what Rey hoped was the least conspicuous corner of the dance floor. The others began jumping in time with the music and she reluctantly joined in. It was some rap song she’d never heard of; she could never keep up with what the kids these days were listening to. _You’re a kid yourself, dummy_ , Finn would have said, to make her smile. He was dancing next to Poe, close, but with a very conscious separation between the two them. The inch of space dividing their shoulders seemed filled with an electric charge. 

“I need to go,” Finn said suddenly. “Um. Rey. Will you accompany me?” 

She nodded. Jess looked at the two of them and appeared to register the situation. 

“Right. I’m going to get a drink.”

“You people suit yourselves, I’m staying here,” said Poe.

Finn drew Rey aside as Jess departed for the punch bowl. 

“I need to talk to you about Poe.” 

“I’m listening.”

But before he could delve into his explanation, Rey spotted a trio of unpleasantly familiar faces looming behind him. 

“Go away,” she told the First Order. “We’re having a moment.” 

“Screw your moment,” said Hux.

Phasma put her hands on her hips and faced Rey. “Dance with me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I’m your wife, aren’t I? So you should dance with me.”

Kylo snickered. 

“Find someone else to bother,” Finn told him, trying to shove past the group. In the process Hux bumped him and he stepped on Phasma’s dress, careening into her for a second time that evening.

“You tore it,” she said. 

“You hate that thing.” 

“Doesn’t make it any less damaged. It’s not even _mine._ ”

“Then what’s the big deal?”

“You _tore_ my _dress_.”

Rey dragged him away before they could get into a proper argument (or give Phasma a proper answer). “So what is it you wanted to speak to me about?”

“Oh.” Finn’s face fell a little. “I…I need help, Rey. I think I have a crush on Poe and I don’t know what to do about it.”

_At least he’s admitting it now_ , she thought. “You could tell him.”

“No way. If I do anything I’ll start by asking him to dance with me.”

As if it had been conjured by his words, a slower song began to play.

“Then why don’t you?” Rey demanded. 

His eyes widened. “I can’t do that! It’s _embarrassing_.” 

“So?”

“So it’s embarrassing. And I don’t want to take things too fast because that has never ended well for me in the past and I don’t know if he likes me or even likes _guys_ and—

“Finn.” Rey put her hands on his shoulders. “Ask the boy to dance.” 

He stopped his ramblings midstream, then sighed. “Okay. Okay. I’m going to do it. I’m going to ask Poe Dameron to dance with me.”

“That’s the spirit. You’ve got this.” 

“I do.” He began walking into the crowd. “I do.” He turned back to Rey, an expression of sheer panic on his face. “I can’t do this.” 

“You’ll be fine.” She pushed him forward. “Go.” 

She watched him stumble through the crowd of students and approach Poe, raise words she couldn’t hear over the music. Poe ran a hand through his hair and smiled, taking Finn’s arm tentatively. 

“It’s nice, the two of them together.”

Rey tore her eyes away in mild surprise to see Jess standing beside her. 

“It’s good for Finn,” she said. “He hasn’t done this in a while. I think he’s been wanting to.” 

“Poe too, I think, though whether the boy knows it is a whole different story.”

“It’s amazing how people can carry on feeling things for each other and not even be aware of it.” 

“It certainly is.” 

Rey was suddenly conscious of how close they were standing. She swallowed, somewhat unsure of why she’d begun feeling the tiniest bit anxious. _It’s the crowd. I’m still not used to so many people in such a small space._

Jess opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but just then her phone buzzed. A flicker of annoyance flared in her eyes, gone as quickly as it had come. She whipped out the device, irritation rapidly transforming into terror.

“She’s coming back!” 

“Principal Organa?”

“Snap spotted her heading this way at top speed.” 

Rey paled. “Damn.” 

“He also says that his pretending to be Kylo Ren was totally unnecessary, thanks a lot Testor.” Jess took Rey’s hand and started pulling her towards the concessions booth through the sea of students. “We have to warn the others.”

Rey had already started sending Finn a barrage of messages. Now all he needed to do was check them, which seemed a less definite probability than usual given that he was likely still cradled in the arms of his future boyfriend. 

She spotted the First Order ahead. 

“The principal’s coming,” she hissed, “get your asses back to the booth.”

“What about your friends?” Kylo shot back. “If they’re not here it makes us all look guilty.”

_Where are those damn boys?_ Rey scanned the mass of students, seeing no sign of them. “I’ll have to go in and look for them myself.”

But then they appeared out of the crowd, running towards her at breakneck speed. They scooted behind the table along with Hux and Kylo. Luke, who had been working in their absence, winked at them.

“I won’t say a word.”

A moment later Principal Organa appeared in the main doorway. She was across the room in seconds.

“Luke,” she said, “how are the boys holding up?”

He glanced almost imperceptibly at Rey, then looked back at his sister. “Finn and Kylo were doing some bickering earlier, but for the most part they’re working grudgingly together. I’m surprised.”

Something shrewd passed over the principal’s face. It was almost like she knew exactly what events had transpired that evening. _But surely if she did she wouldn’t have let us get away with it?_ Whatever the case, she shook her head, and smiled faintly. 

“It would seem you’ve pulled through and survived the night. Congratulations.” She turned to Luke. “Thank you for taking over. I had a rather long phone call to attend to.” 

They walked away, already caught up in a conversation about Shara Bey’s passion for educational excellence. 

“That. Was close,” Finn said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "(I Am) Superman" by the Clique, "Go Now" by the Moody Blues, and "I'm So Glad I Met You" by François and the Atlas Mountains.

When nearly a week passed and there were still no consequences for their actions at the homecoming dance, the parties involved began to quit holding their breath. Soon enough life returned to its usual rhythm of school, rehearsal, homework, other activities. The First Order were a pain, but at least they were a pain that could sing. Even if Rey had to stomach their presence in her sanctuary, they weren’t going to ruin the musical. She hoped. 

They were well into rehearsals now, past all the preliminary awkward stages. Tonight’s affair was a concentration day for principal characters, which meant there was more time than usual for Kylo and his father to shout at each other while everyone else tried to get on with their work. Her cousin’s latest diatribe was in response to some casual sketches for his costume. 

“I am not wearing that.”

Mr. Solo closed his eyes for a brief moment, withheld an aggrieved sigh, and faced his son. “No one’s forcing you to. These are just some ideas based on what we can afford with our _very limited_ budget.” 

“I don’t care about the budget,” Kylo scoffed, “I’m worried about the design. It’s all wrong.”

Finn snorted from across the room. “And since when are you the fashion expert?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No offense, Finn, but you have, like, the worst sense of style in the school,” said Hux. 

“I beg to differ.” Poe went over to stand next to Finn. “I think he looks great.”

Finn turned red. “Um. Yeah. What he said.”

“The point _is_ ,” Kylo interjected, “I am not wearing a fluffy white half-dress onstage.”

“As if it was your decision,” Mr. Solo muttered. 

“I want a mostly black color scheme. And a cape.”

“You can’t keep making demands, that’s not how it works.” 

The rest of the cast, sensing the argument wasn’t going to be ending any time soon, went back to their work. As the actors reviewed various scenes and songs, a handful of tech kids were working on set building, Jess and Snap among them. Jess was supervising the construction of one of the platforms, brandishing a drill in one hand and a fistful of nails in the other. Rey found herself monitoring their progress out of the corner of her eye as she went over her lines with Finn. 

Phasma wandered in about forty minutes late, which wasn’t that unusual for her. As soon as she did, Connix, who’d been in a disagreeable mood all day, marched up to her.

“Where the hell were you?”

“I had a prior engagement.”

“Oh, sure, that’s what they all say. I think you’re just not prepared to pull your weight.”

Phasma folded her arms. "Listen bitch. I'm on the football team _and_ in the stupid winter musical _and_ the guitarist for Kylo's inane pseudo- death metal band. So don't go telling me I’m not pulling my damn weight." 

"Holy fuck I think Phasma's secretly magic," Rey whispered to Finn. 

He rolled his eyes. "Rey, stop idolizing the enemy." 

"She does appear to be the least evil out of all of them, though."

Finn clasped her shoulders. "That's what they want us to think, Rey! We underestimate her malice and then they stab us in the back with a stealth attack!" 

It was Rey's turn to roll her eyes. "Finn, how many spy movies have you watched recently."

"None of your business." He sniffed.

"Hey, dimwits," Phasma growled, "are we going to rehearse or not?"

“Right.” Rey stood quickly. “Um. What part do you want to go over?” 

“Allow me to serenade you.” 

Phasma handed her sheet music to the eleventh-grader serving as their accompanist. 

“I hope you remember our dance steps.”

“O—of course.” Rey was dimly conscious of Jess and a few of the other tech kids watching in the background. 

The opening notes of the song began to play, and Rey took a deep breath, crossing to center stage. She looked Phasma dead in the eyes. “ _Now my charms are all o’erthrown, and what strength I have's mine own. Prospero now ends his tale to ensure his project fails. And my ending is despair, unless I be relieved by prayer. As you from crimes would pardoned be, let your indulgence set me free._ ” 

Phasma stepped forward, taking her hands. “ _We’ve already said goodbye_ …”

Rey had to admit, her scene partner’s debatable evilness aside, the girl’s voice was as unexpectedly enchanting as Poe’s had been. It was almost unfair. 

“ _Oh, you’d better go now…_ ”

It wasn’t a very difficult dance. The school usually couldn’t afford to send in a choreographer and there wasn’t anyone on staff with the expertise, so most of the time someone’s aunt or a couple of the students would volunteer to come up with something. This time around it was Brance and Pamich Nerro doing the honors, since they were always missing class for competitions because they were _flawless studio dancers_ or whatever. The number they’d come up with for Rey’s death scene was a simple waltz, close and slow and softly bittersweet. It was strange, doing a dance like that with Phasma. 

Things had been strange with Phasma lately. Rey still didn’t know what that asking her to dance business at homecoming had been all about. It was probably some kind of challenge, just like this was. And Jess…Jess had been about to ask her something too, or that’s what it had seemed like, but for the life of her Rey couldn’t figure that out either. But now she was thinking about Jess when she was supposed to be thinking about the waltz, so she shoved it aside and tried to concentrate. 

“ _Before you see me cry…_

She was probably messing up her footing. No, she was definitely messing up her footing. She’d stumbled on that last spin, and wasn’t it Phasma who was supposed to end up in her arms and not the other way around? Although something told her that may have been intentional. 

_Damn, she’s too good at this._ Rey was going to have to up her game if they were going to be appearing in the same scene together. How was it that Phasma could dance _and_ sing? And play football? _And_ electric guitar? That was definitely unfair. Rey consoled herself by thinking that she was probably rotten at calculus, if nothing else. 

They whirled around the stage, weaving in and out of half-constructed set pieces and the rest of the actors, who had now stopped to watch them. Even Kylo and Han had ceased their bickering. They were ever-moving, ever-turning, closer and apart again, back-to-back and face-to-face. It was enough to make Rey almost dizzy, but she’d be damned if she was going to let Phasma win that easily. 

“ _I don’t want to see you go but darling, you’d better go now._ ”

The song finished with an instrumental flourish and Rey dipping (and fortunately not dropping) her partner. A hushed applause came from around them, and Phasma took a bow. 

The spell was broken by the sound of someone strumming a few opening power chords. Rey turned around to see Jess standing atop one of the platforms she’d constructed earlier, holding a 1989 Fender Stratocaster. She winked at Rey. Her solo started with an arrangement of the song Phasma had just been singing, quickly moving through pieces of some of the other numbers and ending in what had to be an improvisation, fingers flying over strings. 

A few people cheered, Rey and Finn among them. Poe hooted. 

“I think this play should have a band,” Jess said. She bowed, to more applause and some laughter. 

“Kid,” Han Solo said, “you’re hired.” 

Phasma was staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face. It was sharp, but not angry, like she was calculating something. Then she shook her head slightly and it passed, leaving Rey to wonder if she’d imagined the whole thing. 

\----

“So I didn’t know you played guitar,” Rey said.

She was waiting with Jess for their physics lesson to begin. Luke was getting lab materials from another teacher, and in his absence his class was taking the opportunity to be as rowdy as primarily introverted, science-enthusiast honor students were capable of.

“It’s been almost nine years now,” Jess told her. “That’s actually how I met Poe.” 

“I’ve been wondering about that, because it doesn’t seem like you two share very many interests. I mean, you do tech and robotics and he’s into urns and second derivatives.” 

Jess gave a small smile. “There are a few things we have in common, more than you might expect. But we were first introduced in the lobby of the studio where we both took guitar lessons. We got into an argument about acoustic versus electric and have been friends ever since.”

“I can just picture it,” said Rey. “Tiny third-grade Jessika Pava, fighting with boys and carrying around an instrument twice her height.” 

“Well, they didn’t let me play more than a kid-sized guitar until I was twelve and half, at which point I insisted I use electric because otherwise I’d _never_ be in a rock band and have girls like me.” 

Rey laughed. “What noble motivations you had.”

“I’m sure I’d be scandalized that I never ended up in a real band,” Jess said. “What do you think, Rey? Wanna start a band with me?”

“We’d certainly give the First Order a run for their money.”

Luke cleared his throat at the head of the classroom. “Settle down now, everyone. It’s time to begin our lab. Now, as we’ve just started our new unit on circular motion and universal laws of gravitation, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for some model making.”

Rey put her head in her hands. “Oh my god, him and his models, he’s such a nerd.”

“And you’re not?”

“Fair point.” 

Luke began passing out lengths of wire and round beads in different sizes. “You and your partner are going to construct two diagrams, one demonstrating circular satellite motion and the other elliptical, as described by Kepler’s laws, which we covered yesterday.” 

“He’s obsessed with space,” Rey mumbled.

“Okay but space is actually really cool,” Jess pointed out. 

“Yeah, but he talks about it _all the time_. Like yes, I get it, you grew up farming in the desert and didn’t even leave your county until you were a teenager, but all I wanted was to ask you to pass the potatoes.” 

Jess snickered. “You’re the worst.”

“Uncle!” Rey stood, putting one foot up on her chair and assuming a pleading position. “I _beg_ you to allow me to attend university at Fancy Smart Person Space Academy, because that’s where all my friends are, and by friends I mean the sixteen constellations I had memorized before the age of five.” 

“You don’t give me enough credit. I believe it was eighteen.” 

Rey spun around to see Luke standing behind her, losing her balance and falling to the floor in the process. 

“Well I had twenty-one, so I beat you,” she said, picking herself up gingerly. He just shook his head, but she could tell he was smiling. 

She and Jess set to work on their model.

“What planet do you suppose this is?” Jess asked, holding up one of the beads.

Rey inspected it. “Neptune, probably. It’s blue.” 

“Then we should make this one Saturn. It needs rings.”

“Neptune has rings too, we just can’t see them as well.”

“Whatever, we’ll give them both rings.”

They spent the remainder of the class decorating their planets with markers and scraps of cut out paper while Jess made terrible puns about astronomy. _How does the solar system hold up its pants? With an asteroid belt! Rey, ask me if I’m a vegetarian. No I’m not, I’m a meteor._ And it was good, even though Jess told terrible jokes. And Rey thought it was something she could maybe get used to.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "This Charming Man" by the Smiths

That Saturday Rey was woken up by Finn hammering on her bedroom door. 

“Go away,” she shouted, “it’s the weekend, let me sleep.” 

“No time for that,” he said, far too cheerfully. “You have plans for the day.” 

She buried her head in her pillow. “No I don’t.”

“You do now.” He opened the door. 

“You’re so invasive,” Rey groaned, sitting up. “What are we doing.” 

“You and me and Miss Pava and the illustrious Mr. Dameron are going on an adventure.”

“Is this like a save the universe kind of adventure or a go get breakfast at a safety-code violating 7-11?”

“Neither.” Finn grinned. “You’ll see.” 

“Why do I have an ominous feeling about this,” Rey mumbled.

She dressed and grabbed a piece of toast for breakfast while Finn rummaged through her fridge, pulling out two grapefruits and a half-empty carton of orange juice.

“For the road,” he said. 

Poe and Jess were waiting for them in what was apparently Poe’s parents’ car. 

“Food, as promised.” Finn passed his spoils to Jess. “A deal’s a deal. I get shotgun.”

She shrugged and joined Rey in the back, taking a swig from the carton. Poe began to drive. 

“So what exactly is this?” Rey asked. 

“I was going to manufacture us some shenanigans,” Finn said, “when along came Poe to beat me to it.” 

“My dad’s a curator at the history museum,” he explained, “and he got some free admission passes. It’s not much, but I thought it might be fun.” 

“And I thought we’d make a day of it.” Finn popped an apple out of his pocket and took a bite. “We can get ice cream. Or brunch. Or vandalize a park. Or whatever else it is that young people do these days.” 

“Heavy drugs,” said Rey, deadpan.

“Too much effort,” said Finn. 

Jess shook her head. “No wonder you two are in theater. You should go into stand-up.”

“I’ve been trying to convince her since last year,” Finn told her. “She claims no one will think our jokes are funny.”

“They _aren’t_ funny,” Rey pointed out. 

“I could supply you with some,” Jess offered.

“After those astronomy puns? No way.”

“Those are some of my best works!” 

Rey caught Poe grinning softly in the mirror. He’d been quiet thus far; but then, she realized, he was always a bit soft-spoken. Other than that fight he’d gotten into with Kylo. Rey still didn’t know what that was about. Or what _he_ was about, other than guitar and the propensity for math she’d witnessed in their calculus class. And singing like an angel or siren or some other stupid metaphor. And he was possibly soon-to-be-dating her best friend. Not that she had cause to be suspicious, he was a perfectly nice kid, but there had to be more to him than that, especially if Finn was going to continue carrying with his pining. 

They pulled into the museum parking lot, which was mostly empty given the time of morning. Poe nodded to the receptionist like he knew her and she waved the group in. 

“Where to first?” he asked. 

“Let’s go to the ancient civilizations wing,” Jess said, “that’s my favorite.” 

They wound up in the middle of the Egyptology section, staring at several sarcophagi next to brightly-colored fragments of jewelry and jars that had once held human organs. 

“My mom brought a few of these in,” Poe commented. 

“Brought them in?” Finn tilted his head questioningly. 

“She’s an archaeologist.”

His eyes lit up. “That’s amazing!”

“Well, it’s not quite as glamorous as the movies make it out to be. It’s more lab than field work these days.”

“Still badass though.”

“My uncle wanted to be an archaeologist once,” Rey said, “but I think some of the plans he made were of dubious legality so he decided to teach high school instead.” 

Jess snorted. “Try to steal something from a museum?” 

“I’m not exactly clear on the details.” 

“I wonder how you _would_ steal something from a museum,” Finn said. “I mean, I know it happens in like every spy movie ever, but they have fancy technology on their side.”

“And a team of people the behind them,” Jess added.

“The four of us could be a team. Rey would strategize, Jess would build our gadgets, I’d be the man who carries out the job, and Poe could let us in on the museum’s darkest secrets.”

“This place doesn’t have any darkest secrets,” said Poe.

“There’s always something.” 

It was perhaps in poor taste to be planning a robbery in the middle of their target of choice, particularly with Poe’s dad working there. But Finn’s game of Which Priceless Artifact Would You Steal If You Had The Chance made for the perfect kind of entertainment that had them in fits of laughter while passing adult patrons glared at the noise. 

Not far from the Egypt rooms was a segment on the history of human life in the world’s deserts. Rey slowed her pace to take a closer look. 

_Throughout history, life in the desert has been one of the greatest struggles of man versus nature. With scorching heat and little precipitation, society is in constant battle with the elements, and water means survival itself. Yet for such a rough terrain, deserts have sustained all manner of civilizations, from nomadic wandering to trade routes to farming communities, since the dawn of humanity._

The chamber was filled with artifacts from eras of perseverance, walls displaying descriptions of people both real and fictional who had made their homes amidst the sand.

 _Life in the desert._ Rey brushed her fingers against the plaque bearing the exhibit’s background information, remembering. Ten years was a long time to be away from somewhere, and she almost felt—well, she almost felt guilty. For how murky those days had already become in her memory, and how she had begun to stop regretting it. Jakku was such a separate world now that even if she’d wanted to return someday she doubted she would find anything familiar about her old hometown. 

She realized with some alarm that she was alone in the room. _The others must’ve not noticed and gone without me._ Still, in this digital age, all she had to do was call them and everything would sort itself out.

Except apparently her phone didn’t have service down here. 

The local history museum was rather large and rather famous for its warren of maze-like hallways that left even visitors with maps confused. And Rey was a very practical girl, but she’d grown up in primarily open spaces, and getting lost in a place like this didn’t require much stretch of the imagination. 

She tried to calm her speeding heart with logic. _I’ll just wait here. The others will have to realize I’m gone at some point, and then they’ll retrace their steps and come back the way they came. If they remember which way that was._

So maybe she shouldn’t wait. But which way had they gone? There were three doors in this room; she wasn’t even entirely sure which one she’d come in through. Where were all those damned scowling adults now? She could have easily steeled herself to ask one of them for directions, but at the moment she felt terribly alone.

Okay, she couldn’t panic. Panicking would get her nowhere, and she’d find her way out eventually. A grandma would come along, or a security guard on a routine walkaround, or _something_. Standing here worrying would just make the whole situation worse. 

But being lost was—she didn’t like it. She really didn’t like it. 

She began walking quickly through the hallways, which still held no sign of any other visitors. The rooms were silent but for the echoing of her footsteps, the ceiling closing in like a tunnel above her. 

_Where the hell_ is _everyone?_

She wondered if she had service yet. She was about to check when one of the nearby displays caught her eye. Behind the glass hung model airplanes and rockets, with time-worn photographs and newspaper clippings bearing the names of heroes she’d grown up reading about. Amelia Earheart. Bessie Coleman. Sally Ride. Valentina Tereshkova and Katherine Sui Fun Cheung got mentions as well. It was calming, somehow. 

“The others are looking for you, you know.” 

Rey turned with faint surprise and a wave of relief to see Poe standing next to her. 

“Women in aviation,” he remarked, “figures I’d find you here.”

“How’d you guess?”

“Finn says you’re into aeronautics.”

“I am,” she said, “I want to work for NASA someday.”

“Did Jess tell you I intend to be a pilot?”

“No.” Rey was intrigued now. “I’d like to fly spacecraft.”

Poe offered a tentative smile. “Sounds like we have a few things in common.”

“Seems that way.” Rey returned it. “Can you. Um. Can you refrain from mentioning the whole me getting lost business to the others.” 

“Your secret’s safe with me.” He proffered an arm. 

She took it, and they set off to rejoin their friends together. 

**Rey the gay (11:26am):** _So I have decided to officially announce that I approve of the most recent object of your affections_  
**Big Deal (11:27am):** _dude where the hell were you we’ve been looking all over_  
**Big Deal (11:27am):** _also thanks_

\----

After the museum and buying sandwiches from the deli they went out for ice cream. 

“Just when I needed a group of friendly faces to make this job less boring.” Snap Wexley stood behind the counter. “How goes the day?” 

“The usual for a group of teenage delinquents,” said Jess. “We took an educational trip to the history center and paid for lunch at a reputable establishment.”

“Sounds risky.” Snap raised an eyebrow. “So what can I do for you?”

“I’ll have a single scoop of mint chocolate chip.” Poe turned to Finn. “What about you?”

“I’ll get the same.”

“Great.” Poe pulled out his wallet.

“You don’t have to—

“ _Finn._ It’s fine. It’s on me.”

Rey didn’t want to push his hospitality, especially since he’d half-rescued her earlier (not that she wasn’t completely capable of rescuing herself), so she bought her own. Finn pulled her aside.

“You’ve probably been wondering what this is.”

“A spontaneous museum voyage with no strings attached seems too innocent for you,” she told him.

“Poe invited me, and I thought it was maybe a date so I got my hopes up, but then he was like ‘oh Jess is coming too’ so I said ‘I’ll bring Rey’ and now I don’t know what to do.” 

Rey could help grinning a little. He punched her arm.

“What’s that look for?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly, “just…I’m happy for you.”

“Shut up.” He contemplated the tiling of the floor. “It’s not even a thing. It probably _won’t_ be a thing. I’m not getting my hopes up.”

“Still. He invited you here, didn’t he? And bought you ice cream?”

Finn smiled a little. “Yeah, he did.” 

They took their treats to the park. The trees were ablaze in shades of orange and red, the last of the year’s green still clinging to a few leaves scattered here and there. All was still except for few pigeons pecking around the edge of the pond and the wind rustling the grass. 

“It’s a nice day,” Poe said.

“Mm,” Finn agreed. 

They ate in comfortable silence. Poe put a quarter into a machine by the park’s edge and came back with a handful of breadcrumbs. They alternated between feeding the birds and chucking bits of stale toast at each other. One of the pigeons flew up to land on Jess’s head, clearly craving one of the crumbs stuck in her hair. Rey snapped a picture. 

The sun was already beginning to sink low on the horizon by the time they made their way back to Rey’s house, where she was deposited along with Finn. He insisted she walk the rest of the way to his apartment with him, and Rey agreed, because it _was_ a nice day, and Finn didn’t live all that far. He was in even higher spirits than usual, which she suspected had something to do with the fact that he and Poe had been making eyes at each other all afternoon. 

His exuberance was such that he didn’t notice Phasma approaching from the other end of the sidewalk until he’d nearly collided with her for a third time in the past two weeks. 

“Do you _ever_ look where you’re going?”

“I didn’t see you,” he pouted. “What are you even doing here?”

“Walking.” Phasma gave him an annoyed look and turned to Rey. “While I’m at it, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Rey swallowed. “Yes?” 

“Would you like to come to dinner with me?”

The world seemed to stop. Rey registered distantly the pounding of her heartbeat, Finn’s stunned expression, Phasma’s patiently impassive one. 

“Are you—asking me on a date?”

“I am. Are you interested?”

And Rey saw Finn shaking his head violently out of the corner of her eye, but she found the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could really stop herself.

“Yes,” she said, “I’ll go on a date with you.” 

“Fantastic.” Phasma flashed her the hint of a smile. “Does tomorrow at six o’clock work?”

Rey nodded, and they exchanged a few more sentences on location and so forth before parting ways again. Finn stared at her with evident concern.

“Did you really just say _yes_ to a date with one of our arch-nemeses?” 

“Yes,” said Rey.

“What. The actual fuck.” 

_My sentiments exactly_ , she wanted to say, but she just started walking.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: “Anarchy Date” by Queer Rocket and “Romance is Boring” by Los Campesinos.

Rey wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was for going on a date with one of your biggest rivals/pretend wife. Should she dress up? Play it casual? Bring a pocket knife in case things got out of hand? She opted for simple elegance with a sundress and a leather jacket she’d borrowed from Jess last week, no knife. If things really got desperate the restaurant probably had all manner of sharp objects to choose from.

“You’re dressed up,” Luke said when she got in the car. “Meeting a friend, are you?”

She ducked her head, a bit embarrassed, and didn’t bother replying.

“Just make sure you’re careful.” 

“I will be.”

Finn sent her a barrage of texts on the drive over that she didn’t respond to. He seemed to be under the impression that she’d gone crazy, and he wasn’t the only one. Earlier in the day Kylo had called her up for a somewhat incoherent rant she’d failed to see the point of. Something about “stay away from my band” and “why the hell would she ask _you_ on a date anyway?” Rey had just listened without much interest and made a few sarcastic quips before hanging up.

Jess had called her too, though she’d been much nicer about it. 

“So I hear you’re going out with Phasma.”

“It’s just one date,” Rey had said, rather sheepishly, “I don’t see why everyone is making such a big deal.” 

“I mean I’m not all that surprised,” Jess allowed. “Her efforts of seduction have been obvious. I am slightly more confused as to why you took her up on it, but I trust you know what you’re doing.”

“No one else seems to.”

“They’re just in shock. Call me if you need me to break anyone’s teeth in, okay? Especially if they’re Phasma’s.” 

Rey hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. She was more than a little nervous about the night’s events, and not just because her friends (and enemies) insisted on making a mountain out of a molehill. She still didn’t know what Phasma’s motivation in asking her had been. Under ordinary circumstances that would have been obvious, and certainly Jess had given testimony to that effect, but something still seemed out of place. She didn’t buy something as simple as Phasma harboring a secret affection for her. 

Luke pulled up in front of the restaurant. 

“Will you be okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Rey told him, and hoped it was true. 

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

She stepped out of the car and through the doors of the restaurant. She spotted Phasma waiting at one of the tables by the window almost instantly and approached her, heart in her throat.

“No dress this time.”

Phasma looked up. “I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.”

“Since when have you and I agreed on anything?” Rey took a seat across from her.

“You agreed to come here, didn’t you?”

The whole interaction seemed suspiciously like flirting. She was flirting with a member of the First Order. _So this is an interesting new development._

“Nice jacket,” Phasma told her, and she was reminded, inexplicably, of Jess’s words picking her up for homecoming. 

“Nice jacket yourself.” 

She wasn’t really sure what to say. The two of them had only carried on a few conversations without the presence of their respective friend groups, and they’d certainly never been alone together like this. Not to mention it had been longer than Rey cared to admit since her last date, and she felt out of practice. _Am I supposed to ask her how her day was? Give her a heartfelt compliment? This is too weird._ The silence stretched uncomfortably between them. 

“So,” said Phasma, “have you been practicing your dance steps? Because I don’t want you to make me look bad when we’re onstage together.” 

“I practice,” Rey retorted, “and anyway, I’ve been in the theater department way longer than you and the rest of the First Order. You should be worried about having to share the stage with me.”

“As long as you don’t trip over your own feet.”

“As long as _you_ don’t trip over your lines.”

“I might have a better chance if _somebody_ actually bothered to pay attention instead of slacking off with her friends.”

“That is _completely_ untrue!” Rey shouted, earning a few odd stares from the other restaurant patrons. 

Phasma gave her a triumphant look. “I knew I could get a rise out of you.” 

She flushed. “You’re such a rude date. You’re _supposed_ to act like a gentlewoman.”

“I don’t think I’m really the type.”

That was true enough, Rey supposed, but still. She was offended on principle. 

“If I had known you were going to insult me all evening…”

“You wouldn’t have come.” Phasma’s expression softened. “I’m only teasing you.” 

“I…” Rey found herself feeling a bit lightheaded. “I know.”

The waiter came with their menus. Rey ordered risotto. Phasma went with a steak. 

“Figures you would take pleasure in stabbing pieces of half-raw meat.” 

“I’d be offended if you thought any less of me.” Phasma took a sip of her drink. “And what is it you take pleasure in?”

Rey smiled. “Oh, multiverse theory and rock renditions of Broadway showtunes, mostly.”

“Fascinating. I don’t know if Kylo’s told you, but I’m in a band.” 

“What, really? I had no idea.” 

“I know it must come as a shock.” 

“Seriously though, you should play in the winter musical,” said Rey. “Jess is trying to organize a few of the actors and tech kids to do the accompaniment.” 

“She plays electric guitar like I do, if I recall correctly,” Phasma mused. “She seems full of talents.”

There was something sharp and knowing in her voice. Rey had no idea what that was about. 

“Talented is right. She builds things and does science and has cool instrument skills—

She stopped. “What?”

Phasma was regarding her with something akin to sympathy. “You don’t know yet.”

“Know what?”

“Nothing. Never mind. You were saying?” 

Rey frowned. “Doesn’t matter.” 

Their food came then. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Phasma dropped her fork pointedly. 

“Have I done something to upset you?” 

“What?” Rey looked up from her plate. “No, of course not.”

“Then why are you suddenly so quiet?”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

Rey took a deep breath. “Why did you invite me here?”

Phasma paused. “I’d have thought that would be obvious.” 

“You don’t even like me,” Rey reminded her.

“We’re enemies,” said Phasma, “liking you isn’t the point.”

“So why the fancy restaurant?”

“I like you.” Phasma raised an eyebrow. “Or, I respect you, in spite of our differences. And I find myself rather excessively single.” 

Rey raised her glass of ginger ale. “I’ll drink to that.” 

“I would like to propose an arrangement.” 

“I’m listening.” 

“I find myself attracted to you,” Phasma began. “We may be adversaries, but there’s no denying it. And I can tell you right now that I’m not looking for a relationship.”

Rey could have laughed at the prospect. “I don’t think the two of us would ever work out as girlfriends.”

“Definitely not. We’d wreak havoc upon the entire world.”

“This planet isn’t ready for that kind of destruction.”

“Precisely,” said Phasma. “But there are some components of certain types of relationships that I wouldn’t be opposed to.”

Rey thought she might know what the other girl was alluding to. “Oh yes? Like what?”

“Kissing you, for one thing.” 

She thought about it. “I might not be opposed to that either.” 

“And thus the arrangement.”

“Like friends with benefits,” Rey said.

“We aren’t friends,” Phasma pointed out. 

“Enemies with benefits, then.” 

“Only if that’s something you’re okay with.” 

“Let’s see if your actions live up to your words,” Rey told her. “That would persuade me.”

She was being bold. She was never this bold. Why was she being this bold, and with Phasma, of all people? And why didn’t she care more?

Phasma took her hand. “In that case perhaps we should be going.”

They paid for their meal and wound up sitting in the front of Phasma’s car. (It wasn’t a motorcycle, but Rey couldn’t very well go judging potential flings by something so silly.)

“Where to?”

Rey shrugged. “My place isn’t far.”

Before long they were standing in the entryway of her house. Luke had gone over to his sister’s after dropping her off at the restaurant. They were entirely alone. 

“So this is where I live,” Rey said, in an effort to cover the silence that had descended as soon as they’d stepped through the doors. “Um. I guess you haven’t been here before. I could do a tour…”

She trailed off. Phasma was standing only a few inches away, a faint smile tinging the corners of her lips. 

“I’m fine here.”

“I’m sure.” Rey swallowed. “Um. I don’t really know what else to say.”

Phasma took her hands. “Then perhaps we should leave speaking for another time.”

She slipped an arm around Rey’s waist and kissed her. After a few minutes she pulled away.

“Is something wrong?” Rey asked.

Phasma shook her head. “Just making sure you’re alright with all this.”

“If I wasn’t I would have said something sooner.”

“I mean it. If you have any trepidation at all tell me now and I can go.”

It was so uncharacteristically polite of her that Rey was taken aback. 

“I’m alright with this,” she said softly, and Phasma leaned in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little shorter and took a little longer than usual, so my apologies. I shall endeavor to make up for that next time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna do a quick shameless self-promo and say that if you’re resentful about this being somewhat lacking in bluerey (jeditestor?) so far I wrote a thing [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6031855) featuring the pairing. Also, fear not, the bluerey is definitely coming, I’m just taking my time getting there. Chapter playlist: “Debaser” by the Pixies and “I Donned a Shade” by Big Lonely.

“So…do you wanna talk about it?”

Finn had come early to pick Rey up for their walk to school. They were sitting on the floor of her room, Finn with his back against the door claiming he wouldn’t budge until she imparted the details of the previous night.

Rey shrugged in response to the question. 

“Okay, we’re talking about it.” 

“If you insist,” she muttered.

He grinned at her. “I do. Spill the beans, Skywalker, what happened?”

“You’re entirely too gleeful about this,” she told him. “I thought you were mad because I was going on a date with the _enemy_.” 

He waved a hand. “That’s in the past now. In spite of the fact that Phasma is an evil woman who has a personal hatred for me, I’m happy if you’re happy. So the question is, are you happy?”

Rey took a moment to think about it. “I suppose I am. Phasma’s a terrible date.”

“You don’t look like you mind.”

“We had fun.”

“Did you kiss her?”

Rey didn’t answer that.

Finn’s eyes went wide. “Oh my _god_.” 

She buried her head in her hands. “Shut up, it’s not that big a deal.”

“Did you do…anything else?”

“Grow up, Finn.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“Correct.”

His jaw dropped. “Oh my god. Did you have _sex_ with her?”

“ _No_ ,” Rey said flatly, “and if I had, it wouldn’t be any business of yours.” 

“Whatever. I would’ve jumped at the chance to get laid, if I was you.”

“You probably could if you just worked up the guts to ask Poe to go out with you.”

He punched her arm. “You are not going to distract me from the subject by pointing out my problems. We’re discussing your problems right now.” 

Rey groaned. “What problems?”

Finn gave her a stern look.

She frowned at him. “I’m just saying, having one measly orgasm on the kitchen table is not worth waking up a week later with an STD.” 

He snorted. “The kitchen table?”

“Shut up.” 

“Do you think you’ll see her again?”

“Maybe,” Rey said, “but not anytime soon.”

It wasn’t that it hadn’t been good, because it had been. Far better than she’d expected, if she was being honest with herself. Afterwards they’d made unrelated, somewhat awkward conversation until Phasma had driven herself home. She’d texted Rey later, _if you need anything then call me, loser_ , and that had been that. Nothing more needed to be said. 

“I suppose that’s a good thing,” said Finn. “You and Phasma as an actual couple would be too weird.”

Their conversation turned to other matters as they walked to school. Rey thought she’d return Finn’s favor by peppering him with questions about Poe, but he insisted on staunchly avoiding the subject. She decided to be a nice person and allow him his silence. 

Phasma arrived late to first period literature. She met Rey’s eyes and glanced away quickly. _So that’s how things are now_. Rey hadn’t really expected anything different. Just because they’d gone on one date didn’t mean they were _friends_. She saw Jess giving the two of them a curious look and ducked her head quickly. 

Someone gave her a harsh tap on the shoulder.

“So how was last night?” Kylo Ren hissed. 

Rey turned in her seat to direct an expression of mock-surprise at him. “Are you asking about my night, Kylo? How kind of you.”

He grit his teeth. “I hope for your sake it was terrible.”

“Why don’t you just ask Phasma instead of stooping to converse with me?”

“Rey, something you’d like to share with the class?”

She faced front again. “No, Ms. Kanata.”

“Then I expect you’ll remember to be quiet while I’m giving the lecture.”

“Of course, Ms. Kanata.” 

Jess leaned back in her seat.

“I am curious, though,” she said. “How did it go?”

“Well enough,” Rey told her, “though I doubt there’ll be any repeats of it.”

“Oh. That’s too bad, I guess.” Something flitted across Jess’s face she didn’t recognize, something that made her heart flip in an unfamiliar but not entirely unpleasant way. 

“Yeah,” Rey said, “but it all worked out for the best.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” 

“Rey, what was I just saying a moment ago?”

“Sorry, Ms. Kanata.”

The day’s classes flew by in a blur. Rey felt rather anxious about the prospect of going to rehearsal and interacting with Phasma like things were _normal_. Things weren’t normal, and as soon as she and her stage wife started performing together the whole cast would know it.

They started out with a scene between Doctor Prospero and Captain Tempest and Miranda. Nothing particularly taxing. As they went through the motions Rey found her mind wandering. 

What she’d told Finn and Jess earlier, about her thing with Phasma being over, that wasn’t exactly true, because the other girl had pulled her aside during lunch and they’d made out in an empty classroom for eight minutes, and were now studiously avoiding looking at each other. But if it did happen again, she doubted it would be with any frequency. There were other things she needed to concentrate on, like memorizing her lines and applying to college and not stressing out about calculus. 

“Rey, are you listening?”

She jolted. “Hm, what?”

Mr. Solo gave her an _I don’t need this from you too_ look. “I asked if you were ready to move on to your scene with Phasma.”

“Oh, sorry, of course.” Rey took a deep breath, glanced down at her script. “Where should we take it from?”

They were working on the fight before “Go Now,” the climax of the show. It was an important part, and under ordinary circumstances Rey would have been entirely invested, but today she couldn’t get into it. She kept glancing over at Phasma and quickly dropping her gaze, and she knew it was silly, knew she’d maintained her composure flawlessly in far less trivial situations, but something about this seemed different. She was _embarrassed_ , she realized, which was a little disheartening. It made for an irritating distraction. And there was something else bothering her too, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

After she bungled the staging for the third time in a row and Phasma managed to accidentally toss her cardboard gun off the side of the stage, Mr. Solo put a stop to the proceedings. 

“Alright you two,” he said, tone unreadable, “take a break. We’ll work this again when you’re ready to commit to it.” 

Rey’s face burned. She nodded and took a seat next to Jess in the front row. Phasma simply walked out the back exit. 

“I’m so ashamed,” she whispered.

“You’re fine,” Jess assured her. “Everyone messes up sometimes.” 

“And everyone incurs the wrath of Mr. Solo at some point as well,” Rey murmured glumly. 

“At least he’s your uncle. There’s no escape for the rest of us.”

Onstage the cast had moved on to one of Finn and Poe’s duets.

“I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this,” said Jess, “but this show is incredibly gay.”

“So gay,” Rey agreed, “far gayer than last winter’s shitshow.” 

“Oh god don’t remind me. Stop Superintendent Snoke 2k15.” 

It appeared the rehearsal was being stalled again. Finn kept forgetting his choreography for “Good Vibrations.” 

“How many times do I have to show it to you?” Pamich Nerro snapped. “It’s not that difficult.”

“It is for me,” Finn retorted, “I haven’t been dancing in a studio my whole life.”

“Here.” Poe stepped between them, taking one of Finn’s hands. “I’ll show you.”

“R—right,” Finn stammered, going red. 

Poe began guiding him through the motions, gently placing his fingers on Finn’s waist or shoulder to make corrections as they went along.

“You’re doing, great, buddy.”

“ _Buddy_?” Rey mouthed to Jess. The other girl shrugged in amusement.

“This is the most disgusting romantic display I have ever been forced to witness,” Kylo groaned from the wings.

Hux mimed throwing up. 

“They’re so smitten with each other and neither one of them notices,” Rey said when they’d finished going over the song a couple times. “Think we ought to tell them?”

“Nah,” said Jess, “they’d hardly believe us. They can suffer figuring it out on their own.” 

“Hey losers,” Pamich called, “I’m having a Halloween party next week and the entire senior class is invited. Think you’ll show?”

“Sure,” Jess told her, “if I can find someone to go with.”

“I don’t have plans,” said Rey, “go with me. We can get ready together beforehand.”

Jess’s lips quirked into a half-smirk. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Did I hear something about a party?” Finn asked, coming up to them. 

“I suppose you can come too,” said Pamich. “Maybe it’ll make you a better dancer.”

“Low blow,” he grumbled. 

Rey didn’t go to parties very often. Pamich Nerro was infamous for hers, but those were often too crowded and noisy for Rey’s tastes, and often enough she hardly knew anyone. But this time, at least, she had Jess and Finn and Poe, and she could allow herself some adventurousness on a holiday. It beat sitting up in her room doing homework. 

They made their way out of the building. Jess turned to her before they parted ways for the evening. 

“I’m already looking forward to next week,” she confessed. She squeezed Rey’s hand, and the scavenger felt her skin tingle. 

“Me too,” she said. And even though she wasn’t fond of parties, it wasn’t a lie.

\----

On her walk home Rey realized one of the things that had been bothering her earlier in the day. All the unexpected emotions swirling around her brain lately were making her head hurt. Maybe she could ask Luke for some advice.

He was reading a book about molecular chemistry when she got in, and nodded a greeting to her over the thick pages.

She nodded one back took a tentative step towards him. “Can I ask you a question? About something kind of personal.” 

“Woah there.” He looked up in mild alarm. “Is this about the sex talk? Do you remember what we said about the sex talk?”

Rey sighed. “‘If you have any questions you can ask my sister, but for the love of God avoid Han’s input at all costs.’”

“That’s right.”

“This isn’t about the sex talk.”

“Oh.” He set down his book slowly. “Then go ahead.”

“How did you realize you were ace?” 

“I’ve always known, I suppose. Everyone else was always busy with their attractions and I—wasn’t. I used to figure it was just until I found the right person, but then I learned what asexual and aromatic meant and everything seemed to fit.” He looked at her sharply over the top of his reading glasses. “Why? Do you think you might be on the spectrum?”

“No,” Rey said, “or, probably not. I don’t really know. You and everyone else seem to know what you are and I…don’t.” 

His expression softened. “Is that what you’re worried about?” 

“Kinda. I just—I feel so confused lately. It’s annoying.”

“Listen, Rey. You’re seventeen. You’re not supposed to know who you are yet. Even if you were seventy there’d be no guarantee of that, because that’s just the way life works. It’s okay to be confused.”

“I’m unofficial president of the GSA,” she muttered. “And an honor student and aspiring astronaut and lead actress to boot. I have to have things figured out.” 

“You do not.” Luke raised his eyebrows. “You’re a scientist too, right? You know better than anyone the importance of uncertainty.”

Rey smiled a little. “Okay, Heisenberg.” 

“I mean it.” He paused. “You know I’ll support you no matter what.” 

She grinned at him. “In that case, will you support me by allowing me to go to Pamich Nerro’s party with Jess on Halloween?”

“That isn’t what I meant,” he grumbled, but he was grinning too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloween Party Playlist: “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, “The Boogie Man” by the Cadillacs, “I Put a Spell on You” by Sarah Jane Nelson, “Only Ghost” by the C’mons, “She’s My Witch” by Rocket to Memphis, “Afraid of the Dark” by Phildel.

On Halloween night Jess arrived at the Skywalker residence with a mostly-finished costume and two bags of candy. She handed one to Luke on her way in. 

“From my mom,” she mumbled, “as a thank you.” 

He looked confused, but took it with a murmur of profuse gratitude.

“Also when’s our next physics test?”

“Next Tuesday,” Rey called from the top of the stairs.

Jess grinned up at her. “I can always count on you.”

“Are you going to thank me with candy too?”

“Sadly, no. It’s for Pamich. My mom still hasn’t figured out host gifts aren’t a thing normal teenagers do.”

“Who even cares about normal anyway.”

Jess followed Rey to her room, depositing her bag of provisions for the evening onto the floor with a thud. 

“So what first?” she asked. 

They made sandwiches and talked about school a while before deciding to change into their costumes. Finn had suggested doing a group cosplay, but they’d had some trouble deciding what to go as. He’d wanted to go with Star Trek characters, but Poe had only ever seen a few Deep Space Nine episodes. Jess had suggested going as the First Order, but there were only three band members and four of them, and anyway no one wanted to dress up as Kylo. Eventually they decided to stick to a galactic theme and dress up as planets. Finn was Mars, Poe was Venus, Jess was Neptune, and Rey was Saturn. 

“If only we had five other people,” Jess said as they were doing their cosmic make-up.

“Four other people. Our solar system only has eight planets.”

“You know what, Rey, some of us still like to make Pluto feel included.” 

“Still doesn’t make it a planet.”

“I’m offended.” Jess applied a coat of blue lipstick and turned to Rey for inspection. “Thoughts?”

“Stunning,” Rey said, meaning it. 

They were just putting on the finishing touches when Poe and Finn arrived to pick them up. Luke made them do a few group pictures before they headed out, and Rey pretended to be annoyed by it. 

“You look like you’re dressed as the devil,” she told Finn. 

“You’re terrible,” he huffed. “Do you even know how difficult it was to find inspiration for a Mars costume that _wasn’t_ that character from Sailor Moon?” 

She laughed. “I found myself with the same trouble.”

The four of them piled once again into Poe’s parents’ car, Luke waving goodbye and calling a last “have fun make good choices be home by two” after them. It had been decided that for convenience, and since there was no school the next day, they’d all spend the night at Rey’s house, and thus they had to abide by her curfew.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived. Rey could feel the music pulsing as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. There were students spread out on the lawn; some she knew, some she didn’t, some who didn’t even look like they went to their school. 

Pamich met them in the entryway, decked out in a full fairy costume complete with wings. 

“You came!” she called. “The whole rest of the cast is here as well, and unfortunately that includes the First Order. But come in, come in.”

Jess tossed her the bag of candy. She caught it in one hand.

“You’re a wonder, Pava.” 

“That I am.” She took Rey’s arm. “Let’s go in.” 

They entered the fray, Poe and Finn behind them. There were even more people inside, dancing and eating and laughing at decibels a tone or two lower than ear-splitting. Finn made a beeline for the snack table and Rey followed him. He shoved a fistful of chocolate into his mouth and poured himself a plastic cup of punch. 

“I’m impressed,” said Rey, eyeing a bowl of skeleton cookies. “Pamich went all out. She’s got themed food and decorations and everything.”

“I wonder how long it’ll last,” Jess murmured. “Pamich’s parties are wild. Remember her sophomore year graduation event?”

“I try not to.” 

Finn took a sip of his drink and winced.

“Definitely not Kool-Aid,” he muttered, setting it down gingerly on the table next to him.

Poe tilted his head to the side, listening. “Not a bad song.” He turned to Finn. “Dance with me?”

Finn went redder than his costume. “U—um. Was that me you were asking?”

“Who else?” Poe grinned. “So is that a yes?”

Finn nodded like he didn’t trust himself to speak and took his hand. 

“One of these days they’ll realize they’ve been into each other all this time,” said Jess, “and I will laugh.” 

They stood, somewhat awkwardly, next to the snack table, unsure of what to do now that they were alone amidst the chaos. Rey wondered if she should ask her to dance. _But maybe that’d be weird._

Someone bumped into Jess, almost spilling their drink all over her costume, and backed away with a hasty apology. She turned to Rey. 

“Wanna find somewhere less crowded?”

Rey nodded gratefully, snagging a cookie from the table on their way out. She followed Jess through the sea of students and up the stairway. The second floor was a little quieter, but the party music still blared, and there were still people scattered around. Jess opened a door and closed it quickly.

“Um. Not in there.”

They managed to find an unoccupied supply room and shut themselves into it. 

“It’s kind of pathetic,” said Rey, “going to a party only to avoid it the whole time.”

“That’s not pathetic.” Jess offered her a lopsided grin. “Parties like these are kind of stupid anyway unless you’re going in with a specific intent, like getting wasted or hooking up with someone.” 

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

Rey swallowed. “Going in with a specific intent.” 

Jess shrugged, looking at her hands. “Not really. Just hoping for a good time I guess.”

“Well, don’t let me spoil your fun.”

“You could never do that,” said Jess softly. 

There was a thick, charged silence between them, and Rey felt a tingle go down her spine that had nothing to do with the supposed spookiness of the holiday. Downstairs a new song had begun to play, slower and more sensuous, and Rey’s heart started to speed up. It was a perplexing sensation, as was her heightened awareness of her proximity to Jess, the way the dim lighting of the room made the other girl’s lips glow blue. 

Jess looked up at her, head quirked to the side. “What is it?”

Rey realized she was staring. “N—nothing.”

Before Jess could say anything else, the door opened.

“Oh my _god_ Kylo, you’re such a drama queen.” Phasma stopped short. “Oh.”

“Um,” said Rey, “hi.” 

Phasma appeared to be dressed as Mystique from the X-Men comics. She and Jess sized each other up, silently comparing their shades of blue. Unsurprisingly, Kylo sported a look that paid homage to _the very essence of darkness itself_ , as he would put it. He was probably attempting to look like a supervillain. 

He scowled. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“It may come as a shock to you, cousin, but I actually have a social life that extends beyond arguing with you.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he muttered.

“Bored now,” said Hux, who was wearing what must have been his father’s military uniform. “Let’s go somewhere else.” 

“You two go ahead.” Phasma turned to Rey. “Dance with me?”

“Sure,” Rey said, eager to leave the storage room and all its emotional weirdness behind. “Um, Jess, that okay with you?”

“Of course,” she said, but her voice felt distant. “I’ll see if I can pry Finn and Poe apart long enough to talk to them.”

Phasma offered Rey an arm, and the two walked down the stairs together. She pulled Rey into the middle of the floor just as the next song was starting. 

“What were you doing in a storage closet with Jessika Pava?” she asked, spinning her.

Rey flushed. “We were just talking. I wanted to get away from the party.”

“Understandable. The individuals here are obnoxious and innumerable.” 

“Present company excepted, I hope.”

Phasma shrugged, grinning. “You are slightly less obnoxious than most of these people. But only slightly.” 

“And you have the dubious honor of being less evil than your comrades,” Rey told her.

“I’m touched.” Phasma stepped back. “And speaking of my comrades, I’d better find them before they accuse me of fraternizing with the enemy.” 

“Mine would do the same.”

“Then this is goodbye for now. Have fun with Jessika Pava.” 

Phasma gave her a rather facetious salute before melting into the crowd around her as easily the character she was dressed as would suggest. Rey looked around for any sign of her friends and spotted Finn heading in her direction, expression serious. She ran up to him. 

“What is it?”

He shook his head, leading her over to a (marginally) quieter corner of the room.

“ _Now_ are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” 

“I just spent eight minutes making out in the bathroom with Poe Dameron.” 

It was not what she had been expecting. The words took a moment to sink in.

“But…that’s a good thing,” Rey said. “Isn’t it?”

Finn buried his face in his palms. “Yes? Maybe? No? Ughhhhhh I don’t _knooow_.” 

“Tell me what happened.”

“So we were dancing,” he began, “and we started off at a comfortable distance, you know, the just-friends-hanging-out distance. And I was thinking it was nice, you know, just being with him and enjoying ourselves together. But then he got closer, or maybe I got closer, and before I knew it I was practically on top of him.” 

“Here we go,” Rey murmured.

He peeked out from behind his hands to glare at her. “Quiet, I’m not finished soliloquizing.” 

She motioned for him to proceed. 

“Well, I was embarrassed, so I broke away and apologized, but he just grabbed my hand and led me away. We ended up in one of the bathrooms, and he closed the door and turned to me, and I could feel my heart going a mile a minute when…it happened. I’m not really sure who started it. One moment we’re sort of awkwardly standing there staring at each other and the next his lips are on mine and…um. I think I got a bit carried away.”

“Spare me the gory details.”

“Right.” He blushed. “Anyway, that’s what happened. After a while we separated and he put his shirt back on and mumbled something, and I sort of squeaked and ran out of the room and then I found you.” 

“Finn!” Rey kicked him. “Why did you leave?”

“I don’t know.” He covered his face again. “I panicked.” 

“Was it…you know…good?”

“Better than it had any right to be,” he said morosely. 

“You should just talk to him,” said Rey. “I’m sure he’ll understand.” 

“But what if I’ve ruined our friendship?”

“I highly doubt that is the case.”

“There you are.” Jess ran up to them. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Do you know where Poe is?”

Finn groaned and slumped to a seat against the wall. Jess shot Rey a questioning look.

“I’ll explain later,” Rey told her. 

It was around midnight by that point. Rey was surprised to see it had gotten so late; it seemed like they’d only just arrived. The party was in full swing, and the attendants would be starting to get rowdy before too long. Her own company would likely cut out before that came into full force. In the meantime, she thought she should probably occupy herself with something that wasn’t the snack table or more of Finn’s lovesick desperation. 

“Now that Phasma’s claimed her dance with you I thought perhaps I might have a turn,” Jess said. 

Rey held out her hand. “By all means.” 

“Is Finn gonna be okay?”

“Never in my life,” he muttered.

“He’ll be fine,” said Rey. 

The type of dancing typically practiced at any event including teenagers primarily consisted of jumping up and down, swaying at varying levels of intensity, and/or trying to get as physically involved with another human as possible without actually having sex in the middle of the floor. This particular festivity was attended by more theater people than most parties, not to mention Pamich and Brance’s studio friends, so Rey occasionally caught sight of something that almost resembled conventional dancing. But mostly the whole thing seemed like a kettle of sexual frustration (which was just like high school, really). 

Needless to say, she and Jess maintained a respectable distance. 

“So what was all that back there about?”

“I’m not sure if I should tell you,” Rey said. “It might be better to let Poe explain things.” 

Jess poked her. “C’mon, Skywalker, share the gossip.”

Something about that particular turn of phrase caught Rey by surprise. It was like something Finn would say to her, only…it made her feel different. Lighter, in a way. 

“Finn and the illustrious Mr. Dameron finally smashed faces.”

Jess stopped dancing. “No _way_.”

“For eight minutes in a bathroom, apparently.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know,” said Rey, “and Finn’s freaking out about it. I’m sure they’ll work things out, though.” 

“Let’s hope.” Jess held her arm out and twirled Rey, catching her in her arms. “This is fun. I’m glad we did this.”

“Me too,” Rey confessed, “and I don’t even like parties.” 

“I know.” Jess looked thoughtful a moment, then darted in to place a quick kiss on Rey’s cheek.

“I bet you’re glad you came now,” she murmured, close to her ear. 

Rey’s face heated up. “You got lipstick on me.”

Jess pulled back and grinned. “So wipe it off.”

She didn’t. 

They danced the next few songs together (in the loosest definition of the word “dance”) before deciding to go pester Poe and Finn into making a declaration. But neither boy was anywhere to be found. 

“This is a problem,” said Jess. “I mean, beyond our friendship harassment duties, Poe is also our ride.”

“What time is it?”

“Not yet one.”

“Curfew is two. But we should probably find them anyway.”

They weren’t anywhere on the dance floor, or by the snack table, or in any of the main rooms on the first floor. Jess even knocked on the door of a few bathrooms, but all she was met with were some irritated and confused shouts to back the fuck off. After that the two girls decided to try their luck on the second floor. 

Rey heard the strains of what sounded like a serious conversation coming from behind a door and opened it. 

“Oh no.”

Kylo Ren looked up from where he was sprawled on top of a couch. “Go away.”

“Kylo, are you crying?”

“Fuck off.” He sniffed. “I’m having an emotional moment.”

“I have never been more done with your melodrama.” 

Hux poked his head out from behind a table. “Me too.”

“Nobody asked you,” Jess shot at him. 

“You’d better watch yourself, Pava. There’s trouble in store for you.”

“I am amazed by the credibility of your vague and annoying threat.” 

Rey closed the door and sighed. “Nuisances.”

“Was that the First Order?”

“Poe!” Jess spun around. “Where have you been?”

“I went outside,” he said. “I needed some air.”

 _I’ll bet you did_ , Rey thought, shaking her head. 

“Kylo was just being stupid again,” she told him. “And Hux made the usual promise of retribution.”

“I think something’s up with them. They’ve been acting like they’re plotting something all night.”

“Probably nothing to worry about.”

“So Poe,” Jess said conversationally, “how’s Finn?”

He smiled unconvincingly. “Finn? He’s…great, I’m sure. I…I haven’t really seen him, why?”

“Oh, nothing.” Jess’s sweet tone contrasted her piercing look that said _we are talking about this later_. 

Just then Finn came running up from the opposite end of the hallway.

“Rey, I’ve been looking fo—oh. Hey Poe.”

“Finn.” Poe ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Hey buddy.”

They stood there avoiding each other’s eyes. Jess cleared her throat.

“If you’re all done here, we may as well be going.”

The ride home was an oddly silent affair. Every now and then Jess or Rey would make a comment and one of the boys would answer, but neither would talk directly to the other. 

_It’s late_ , Rey thought. _They’ll work things out when they’re better rested._ She certainly hoped so, anyway, because there was still a good bit of the semester left and she did not need to spend all of it consoling a moping Finn. 

Luke had gone to bed by the time they got home. Rey pulled some spare blankets out of a closet and they set up camp in the basement. Without anyone really voicing it aloud they opted to turn in right away, and after Poe murmured a hushed goodnight to Finn both boys were quick to curl up in their respective corners. 

“We should try and get some sleep too,” Jess whispered to Rey.

She nodded.

“Good night, then.”

“Goodnight.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: “She’s Got You High” by Mumm-ra and “This is War” by Ben Kweller.

Finn and Poe did not, it turned out, immediately get over the events of Halloween. In the weeks following the holiday, whenever they found themselves in the same room, which was several times a day, they’d blush and avoid each other’s eyes, a fuzzy sort of tension between them. They had trouble speaking directly to one another, and usually managed it only when Jess and Rey or some other friends were also in attendance. Finn shot Poe longing looks when the other boy wasn’t paying attention. Poe bit his lip and stared at the ground whenever Finn’s name was mentioned. It was utterly ridiculous. 

Mr. Solo, of course, was at his wit’s end. Two of the winter musical’s leads had gone from having unbelievably good stage chemistry to forgetting half their lines whenever they were in a scene together. 

“Look,” he said one day after they’d spent more than an hour rehearsing the same three pages. “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but we have less than a month until we open, so you’d better work it out fast.”

Finn only nodded, and that’s when the whole cast knew unequivocally something was up, because his avoidance of a good-natured argument with the director was unprecedented. 

“You really need to talk to Poe,” Rey told him. “I am not having you ruin our musical with your drama. That’s Kylo’s job.”

Finn groaned, flopping back onto her floor. “I know. I just…every time he looks at me with those eyes of his everything I want to say just flies out the window.”

“You sound like a cheesy YA protagonist.”

“I can’t help it if it’s _true_. You try being in my position and then we’ll see how you feel.” 

“No thank you,” said Rey. “I am perfectly content to keep a rational head on my shoulders.”

“One day you’ll be where I am now and you’ll understand.” Finn paused. “Unless you realize you’re aro or something, in which case I respect it.” 

One day he and Rey arrived at school in time to see Jess pull up on her motorcycle. 

“I thought I’d better take advantage of the decent weather while it lasts,” she said, dismounting. 

“Jessika Pava,” said Finn, “you are full of surprises.” 

Rey felt a pang somewhere in the vicinity of her chest and decided to ignore it. 

The First Order were suspiciously quiet at rehearsal that afternoon.

“Perhaps they really were plotting something at Halloween,” she commented. 

“One can only wonder,” said Jess. “Do you want to hang out with me?”

“I thought that’s what we were doing now.”

They were sitting at the back of the auditorium, ostensibly going over Rey’s lines while the rest of the cast rehearsed the ending, but actually doodling all over each other’s scripts and generally wasting time. 

“I mean outside of school,” Jess explained, “like, at my house, or somewhere.” 

Rey smiled. “I’d like that. After all, you’ve stayed over at my place now, it’s only fair I get to see yours.”

“It isn’t anything special.” 

“I doubt that. I don’t know anything about it yet.”

“It’s small.” Jess paused. “My mom operates this auto body repair shop. I live above it with her and my kid sister.” 

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Rey said, “or a shop.”

“Well, now you do.”

The next day, a Friday, she took the bus with Jess after school. The two girls made quiet conversation along the way, joking and comparing the events of their days. They passed a house with a “Vote Snoke for District Superintendent” lawn sign and Rey booed, eliciting a soft smile from Jess. A few minutes later they departed and walked two blocks to the auto shop. It wasn’t very big, but the exterior was clean and uncomplicated, the brick a calming cream. A sign above the door that led to the inner offices read “Pava Auto Repairs” in a simple font. 

“This is the place.” Jess opened the door. 

The empty, orderly office branched out from a corner of the main work floor, separated from it by a thin wall and large window. Behind the glass, Rey saw Ms. Pava working underneath a car. Hearing their approach, she slid out and set her gloves on a nearby bench. She was a slight woman, much like Jess in her features and carriage but a little older, a little more knowing. She wore greased-smeared overalls and a slight smile. 

“You must be Rey,” she said, going to shake her visitor’s hand. “I’ve heard so much about you. My daughter mentions you all the time.”

Jess reddened. “ _Mom._ ”

“I’m sure I’ve talked about her at home too,” said Rey. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a plastic container stuffed to the brim with cookies. “Um. When Jess came over she brought a host gift and I thought it was only polite I returned the favor. I made these.”

Ms. Pava took them. “You I like very much.” 

“Rey, you didn’t have to—

“Hush,” Ms. Pava chided. “Your friend did you a kindness. You should respond with gratitude.”

“Thank you, Rey.”

“That’s better.”

“May I take her upstairs now?” Jess asked.

“Of course.” Ms. Pava turned to Rey. “It was a pleasure to meet you, my dear.” 

“You too,” said Rey, suddenly bashful.

“I’m sorry about all that,” Jess said when they reached the second-floor landing. 

“Don’t be,” Rey told her, “your mom, this place—it’s great. Really.”

Before Jess could reply, the door next to her opened and a head popped out.

“Who’s that?”

“This is Rey. Rey, this is my sister Eleanor.” 

Eleanor gave her an appraising look. “She’s cute.”

Jess groaned. “Why does my family hate me.” 

“Are you going to kick me out of our room again?”

“Yes. Go help mom with work, or something.”

Eleanor stuck her tongue out at her sister and stomped down the stairs.

“Freshmen,” Jess muttered, shaking her head. She led Rey through the open door. 

It was a small room, comfortable, and just messy enough to merit affectionate usage of the term “lived-in.” Rey could tell right away which side was Jess’s by the schematics posted above her bed. 

“So this is my home,” said Jess. “Um. I’m not really sure what to do now.” 

“Your family seems cool.” 

“They are the most embarrassing people on the planet. But yeah, they’re alright.” 

A slight silence descended on them. Rey found herself thinking back to Halloween, the storage room at Pamich Nerro’s party, the funny feeling like all her insides had turned to jelly that hadn’t really gone away since.

“How is tech going for the musical?” she asked.

“Chaotic as hell.” Jess grimaced. “We’re almost a week behind schedule on the set, and somehow all the freshmen ended up on paint crew so Lor San Techie asked me to supervise, because otherwise no one would get any work done.” 

“The play itself isn’t in much better shape,” said Rey. “I don’t think anyone’s off-book yet, and the Finn and Poe situation…it hasn’t improved.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Why is it so hard for them to just talk to each other?”

Jess shrugged. “Crushes do weird things to people. I am usually incapable of stuttering out a sentence in the presence of someone I’m attracted to.” 

“But they _kissed_. Surely they’re past that now.” 

“Apparently not. Their tryst seems to have had the opposite effect.” 

Rey sighed. “Just what we need. More overdramatic teenagers to deal with.”

“You do realize that statement makes _you_ sound like an overdramatic teenager.”

“I feel overdramatically offended.” 

Jess laughed. They stayed holed up in her room for hours, talking and snacking on some of the cookies Rey had brought. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent so long just lost in conversation with someone who wasn’t Finn. Before she realized it the sky had grown dark and the hour late. 

“I could drive you home,” Jess offered, but Rey shook her head.

“It’s late. I’ll just get Luke to do it.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.” 

Rey stood from where she’d been sprawled on the other girl’s floor and stretched. “It’s fine. You don’t need to trouble yourself.”

Jess looked amused. “It’s no trouble, Rey.” 

But she had Luke drive her home anyway. Truthfully, in some far corner of her brain she didn’t really care to acknowledge, she felt a small stirring of nerves at the prospect of being shut into a car alone with Jess. Rey wasn’t _afraid_ of her, not by any means, that wasn’t the issue. It was something else, something she wanted to believe had started on Halloween but had the nagging sensation extended much further back than that. 

It was confusing, and the two of them being in such close quarters outside the confines of parents and nosy younger siblings—that would make it worse. 

The following Monday she was sitting in calculus thinking it all over during one of Mr. Ackbar’s lectures when Poe Dameron tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Can you take a look at something for me?”

She nodded, thinking it was some equation, but instead he handed her a scrap of paper.

“I found this note from Finn in my locker earlier, but I think…” he paused, “…well, you’ll see.” 

Slightly concerned now, Rey scanned the page. 

_Poe. Meet me out behind the music wing after school today. We need to talk. ~ Finn._

“What do you think? That doesn’t really sound like him.”

“And that’s not his handwriting. It’s much messier.” She frowned. “So who do you suspect is the real culprit?”

Poe shrugged. “Could be anyone. Maybe whoever sent it is just too shy to talk to me. But I’m skeptical.”

“This oozes with First Order intervention.”

“Exactly.” 

They showed the note to Finn at lunch.

“Definitely not me,” he said. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“If what you’re thinking is that Kylo Ren and his nefarious companions are up to their usual tricks, then yes,” Rey told him. “We need a plan.” 

“If they did write the note, then they’re targeting Poe specifically,” said Jess. “I vote we all go with him to this meeting.”

“There’s strength in numbers,” Rey agreed, “even if we’re walking into a trap.”

Finn didn’t look convinced. “I have an idea: what if we just don’t show up?”

“But then we risk missing something important if it really isn’t the First Order,” Poe said.

“And even if they are the perpetrators, this could be our chance to pull one over on them,” Jess pointed out. 

“Besides,” said Rey, “aren’t you curious?”

Finn heaved an exaggeratedly weary sigh. “I suppose.” 

A few hours later, the four friends were stationed behind the music building, waiting for the mysterious sender to show their face. There was no sign of the First Order.

“Maybe they caught sight of us all heading this way and left,” Rey ventured without much hope. 

There came a sharp laugh somewhere above her. She looked up to see Kylo, along with Hux and Phasma, standing on the fire escape. All three carried large buckets. A realization dawned on her. 

“They knew we’d see the letter as a fake all along,” she breathed. She turned to her friends. “Run!”

But it was too late for them. Before they could so much as scatter, the First Order had overturned their buckets, a rain of some goopy gelatinous substance descending upon them like a sweet-smelling cloud.

_Splat._

The vanilla pudding hit Rey square in the forehead, splattering all over her hair and clothes. She blinked the dessert out of her eyes to see her friends weren’t in much better shape, and stuck up her middle finger at the offenders. 

Phasma smirked at her. “We _are_ enemies, after all.”

Rey had to give her that. 

“You’re not going to get away with this.”

“We already did,” said Kylo smugly. He and Hux high-fived, snickering, and clambered through the open window behind them. Phasma followed, slamming down the pane behind her. 

“Well,” Poe said after a beat, “at least we don’t have rehearsal today.” 

Finn wrinkled his nose, attempting to squeeze the pudding out of his hair. “I am never listening to any of you again.” 

“Probably wise,” Jess muttered. 

“We have to avenge ourselves,” said Rey.

“I agree.” Finn’s expression turned resolute. “This means war.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: "L.E.S Artistes" by Santigold

It was Thanksgiving night, and Rey was preparing herself for the shitstorm of the year. 

“What if I make up an excuse not to go?” she asked Finn over the phone. 

“Do you really think your relatives wouldn’t be able to see through it? This is Principal Organa we’re talking about.”

She sighed. “You’re right.”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Just stick to the plan.”

“I still have to put up with Kylo for the entire evening.”

“True, but it’ll be worth it if we can enact our revenge.” 

“Are Jess and Poe in their positions?”

“They will be before long.” He paused. “We’re counting on you, Skywalker.” 

“I won’t let you down.”

She hung up and made her grudging way downstairs. It was nearly time to go.

Thanksgiving this year was being held at the Organa-Solo residence, a (theoretically) quiet affair with what little family they had, as well as a few friends. Mr. C, D’Qar High School German professor and longtime best friend of Han Solo, was due to make an appearance, along with, more unfortunately, Hux. That meant Rey would be outnumbered, but she didn’t exactly have much choice, and her friends all had holiday plans of their own, not to mention the fact that the plan hinged on their absence.

Kylo opened the door when they arrived. “Oh. It’s you.”

Rey rolled her eyes and shoved past him. “Who else would it be?” 

“I was hoping you’d broken your leg and wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“And I was hoping you’d wake up this morning unable to open your mouth, but we can’t always get what we want.” 

Hux appeared from around the corner and scowled. “Oh. It’s you.”

Rey threw up her hands. “Why is this such a surprise?”

Just then Han stepped out of the kitchen.

“Kylo, get back in the—oh, hey Luke.”

“I brought pie,” Luke said, holding up the box. 

Leia ducked her head out into the entry hall and grabbed it from him. “I can take that.” 

“Quick, sneak off while she’s distracted,” Hux whispered to Kylo. 

“I heard that.” 

Kylo sulked. “How?”

“I hear everything,” Leia said. “Into the kitchen. You’re not finished helping yet.” 

The boys retreated through the doorway while Rey checked her phone. 

~ The Resistance Group Chat ~  
**Poe Damneron (5:17pm):** _Finishing up dinner with my parents. Will be in position as soon as I can get away._  
**Jess Testor (5:19pm):** _the Pava family did thanksgiving early this year so I’m ready to go_  
**Big Deal (5:20pm):** _FN-2187 is ready and waiting_  
**Rey the gay (5:21pm):** _No one is ever going to call you that, Finn_  
**Big Deal (5:21pm):** _fuk u_

Mr. C arrived then, and not long afterwards it was time to eat. Rey took a seat opposite her evil cousin and his evil companion. _Just you wait_ , she thought.

There had been some concern about the nature of their revenge. 

“We could just report them to Principal Organa,” Jess had said.

Finn shook his head fiercely. “This is pride we’re talking about. Our honor is at stake, and the only way to restore it is to respond to their prank in kind.” 

Rey nodded. “We can’t allow them this victory over us. My cousin will never let me live it down.”

Truthfully, though, she was having more apprehensions than she’d expressed. If their plan worked she could end up in detention for the first time in her life, not to mention the other risk factors involved. Telling school authorities about the prank was probably the right thing to do, but Finn was right, this was about pride. They couldn’t let the First Order win. 

“Coming through,” Leia called, entering from the kitchen. She plopped a tray of turkey in the middle of the table. “Alright, let’s eat.”

Mr. C mumbled something in German and they loaded up their plates. Kylo accidentally-on-purpose spilled the gravy all over Rey’s hand when he passed it to her. She glowered at him, and he smirked back. 

The meal began calmly enough. The conversation was light and amiable, Luke and Han occasionally giving each other a hard time with a few of Leia’s sardonic interjections, while Hux and Kylo whispered to each other, keeping to themselves. But peace was doomed to be short-lived where the First Order was concerned, and soon enough a storm appeared to be brewing. 

“This is so lame,” said Kylo. “It’d be better if grandpa was here.”

“He’s dead,” said Han. 

Kylo rolled his eyes. “I _know_. And all of you are sitting around here talking about family like you’ve forgotten all about him.”

“We haven’t forgotten,” Luke told him quietly. “Issues concerning your grandfather are…complicated.”

“He was an asshole,” Han said.

“You always say that,” Kylo fumed, “but I don’t see how _you’re_ any better. All you do is sit there and complain about him or complain about me or complain about money or worry about directing your stupid musical.”

“My musical is _not_ stupid.”

“It is the _stupidest_ musical I’ve ever heard!”

“Then why did you even bother to audition?”

“To prove how awful it was.”

Things seemed to be nearing a full-on explosion when suddenly the doorbell rang. Han and Leia exchanged a concerned look.

“We aren’t expecting anyone else…” she said, frowning. The bell rang again. She stood to answer it. 

Rey noticed that Kylo and Hux seemed both smug and not at all surprised. This boded ill. 

“I’m sorry to intrude,” came a voice from the hall. An unsettlingly familiar voice. “Kylo invited me, but I didn’t know you were in the middle of dinner. I could come back.”

“Please, come in,” said Leia, “there’s plenty of food to go around.” 

She strode back into the dining room, accompanied by Phasma.

“Everyone, this is Phasma. She’ll be joining us this evening.” Leia pulled up a chair and Phasma sat down far more daintily than Rey ever would have given her credit for. 

She whipped out her phone under the table. 

~ The Resistance Group Chat ~  
**Rey the gay (6:40pm):** _Guys we have a problem_  
**Rey the gay (6:40pm):** _Phasma’s here_  
**Big Deal (6:41pm):** _shit_  
**Jess Testor (6:41pm):** _what is she doing who invited her doesn’t she know we have a PLAN_  
**Poe Damneron (6:42pm):** _We can still carry it out. It just needs some adjustment._  
**Big Deal (6:43pm):** _yeah, now all three of them will witness the power of our wrath_  
**Jess Testor (6:43pm):** _They’re going to feel the power of our spectacular failure when phasma ruins the plan_  
**Jess Testor (6:44pm):** _she’s there as a bodyguard because they suspect our retribution_  
**Jess Testor (6:44pm):** _tell me I’m wrong_  
**Rey the gay (6:54pm):** _Poe’s right, we can work with this. I just need to think_

She looked up to see Phasma studying her carefully and flashed her a self-assured smile. Phasma returned her gaze to her plate, and Rey contemplated potential distractions. The whole endeavor was very complex, perhaps too much so, including a false prank involving mashed potatoes to throw the First Order off the scent. 

She checked her phone again to see that it was almost time. Taking a deep breath she stood and reached for the empty dish in front of her. 

“I’ll go refill this,” she told Leia.

She ducked into the kitchen and scanned the various pots and pans for the proper container. Spotting it, she loaded up her tray, steeling herself for what she was about to do. She returned to the dining room and began walking around the table, offering the food to anyone who wanted it, until she was only a few seats away from Kylo. 

Her timing and accuracy here had to be perfect. If she was off even by a reasonable margin it could lead to complications with the plan. As she passed Kylo’s chair she tripped, almost in slow motion, letting the platter slide from her grasp. A rain of mashed potatoes fell upon them like snow, if snow came in sticky, viscid globs. Some of it splattered on Kylo, with drops hitting Hux and Phasma on either side of him as well. Only a little bit of it ended up on the table. The rest of it landed on Rey. _Perfect._

“Oh my god.” Her eyes widened. “I am _so sorry_. I’ll clean that up.”

 _They should give me an Oscar_ , she thought. 

Kylo stood angrily. “Don’t give me that shit! Everyone knows you did that on purpose.”

“ _Kylo_.”

His mother’s warning tone was enough to cow him into withholding the rest of his outburst. He scowled. 

“Whatever. I have to go change.”

He stormed off. His friends got to their feet.

“We should go after him,” said Phasma. “Please excuse us.”

Leia nodded. Rey turned to her, genuinely apologetic. “I’ll go get a towel.”

She shook her head tiredly. “It’s alright, Rey. You should go get cleaned off.”

Rey thanked her and made her escape. She’d struggled with the involvement of her aunt and uncle in the scheme. It wasn’t fair to them, to have to deal with a few of the grittier elements of her revenge. There was probably a way around it, but she hadn’t been able to see one that would allow the rest of the plan to work. She would have to buy them a present or offer to do chores for them or something. 

After briefly rinsing off her clothes she snuck down to the basement so that phase two could begin. As she descended there came a soft knocking on the window pane. _Right on time._ She strode over to see Poe Dameron crouched behind the glass and pushed it open, stretching out a hand to help him through. “Thanks for coming.”

He flashed her a grin. “Wouldn’t miss it. I’m honored you chose me.”

“Well,” said Rey, “Finn makes too much noise for proper sneaking around, and we needed Jess to make use of her tech crew connections.”

He raised his eyebrows. “So I’m your default.”

“You’re a very good default,” she assured him. 

“Where should we start?”

She pointed. “Those boxes seem like a safe bet. We’ll have to make this quick.”

Poe nodded. Together they crept across the floor and picked a few to work through. Probably everything Rey came across could be used as blackmail material, but she didn’t have time to focus on any of it. She had yet to locate the item in question. 

“This what you’re looking for?” 

Poe held up the volume, and Rey grabbed it from him, checking the cover to make sure. _D’Qar High School Yearbook, 2012-2013._

“Perfect.” She dialed Jess’s number. “Pava, we’ve acquired the target.”

“Congratulations.” Rey could hear her grinning over the phone. “Can you get to a computer from where you are?”

Poe unslung his shoulder bag. “I’m on it.” He pulled out his laptop and set it on the floor next to him. 

“Good,” said Jess, “now see if you can find a scanner.”

“Is this really a priority right now?” Rey asked. 

“Rey, do you want shitty laptop photos or high-resolution assurance of their agony?”

“I _want_ to make it out of this basement alive.”

“Just find the damn scanner and hook it up to the computer.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Poe kept watch while Rey flipped through the yearbook, occasionally transferring a page or two into the proper file. When she was finished she emailed the file to Jess and slammed the screen down. 

“It’s done.”

“Then my part is finished.” Poe re-packed his bag. “You should get back to your dinner.”

Rey nodded. “They’ll think I’ve gone and started a new life for myself in Canada by now.”

There was a loud _thud_ from upstairs and they both jumped. 

“Going now,” she said, as Poe swung himself out the window once more. She bolted it behind him and made her way back to the dining room. She slid into her seat with a murmured apology, earning a particularly vindictive glare from Kylo. Phasma raised an eyebrow at her.

“Having some trouble?”

“Not at all.” Rey couldn’t resist grinning smugly. “Everything’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the delay! Schoolwork has really been catching up with me recently, and I’ve also got a few new projects in the works (as if I didn’t have too many already). My goal for the coming months is to update this at least every two weeks, if not more frequently. For reference, we’re currently about a third of the way through the story, unless the arc pans out differently than I’m envisioning. As always, thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn’s playlist: “Florida” by Kitty, “Never Never” by Scout, “In Stranger Times” by Jeremy Neale, and “Hey Pretty” by Poe

Finn’s alarm woke him earlier than he would have liked and he dragged himself up, sighing. Rey accused him of being a morning person, but that was mostly because by the time he got to her house he’d usually adjusted to the world beyond his blankets enough to paste on a smile. 

He checked his phone and saw two messages, one from Rey yelling that he’d better not be late (he was surprised she’d been up early enough to remind him), and the other from Poe. 

Well.

He flipped the device over, heart pounding, trying not to think about what it might say. The group chat aside, Poe hadn’t texted him since Halloween, and Finn hadn’t made any attempts at communication either. It was like an unspoken agreement between them: polite civility when with others and staunch avoidance of all other contact. They would forget Halloween had ever happened. 

Except Finn couldn’t forget. In fact, their separation seemed to be having the opposite effect. He spent most of his time away from Poe thinking of nothing but the moments when they were together, and was incapable of pretending to be in love with him onstage because of how close it came to the truth.

Or, not entirely. Not love. That was a strong word, and not one he used lightly. He was not in love with Poe Dameron. Not yet. But if things continued in the manner they had been, perhaps one day he would be, and then he’d really be in trouble. 

He spared a glance at the screen to see what the other boy had sent.

**Poe Damneron (7:04am):** _Hey, I was wondering if we could talk sometime today._

Finn let out a muffled squeak, feeling grateful Rey wasn’t around to hear, and stuffed his phone beneath the pile of books in his backpack so he wouldn’t be tempted to reply. That would be starting down a slippery slope. Anything could happen. 

He took longer getting ready than he usually did. Everything in his closet seemed too plain or too old or too formal, and he wondered how he could get away with owning a whole drawer of jeans and sweatpants and exactly one suit with nothing in between. He didn’t know why he was so bothered by his wardrobe this morning. (He did know, but he was electing to ignore that fact.) 

By the time he’d dressed and eaten breakfast he realized he wouldn’t be able to make it to Rey’s house on time, so he pulled out his phone, sighing, to text her. He was about to shove it away again when he caught sight of Poe’s icon in the corner of the screen—a picture of the two of them, from back at the beginning of the semester—and stopped. 

_What the hell?_

Without pausing to consider the idea, he fired off a word and hit send. 

**Big Deal (7:46am):** _Alright._

He didn’t check for a response. To his relief, the only person he ran into when he arrived at school was a rather irate Rey, and the two headed to homeroom together. He was safe, for now. 

The feeling of comfort vanished as soon as first period hit. Precalc passed as slowly as ever, and soon he was headed off to chemistry. They were doing a lab on flammability, which he ordinarily would have been excited about because it meant holding samples of dubious-looking powders over Bunsen burners, but his neither his heart nor his mind was in it. 

“Look out!” 

The warning came too late. Finn watched as the test tube slipped through his tongs, reaching out a hand to catch it before it could shatter on the tile below. He managed to get a grip on it and yelped as the searing glass touched his fingers, dropping it instantly. 

Without missing a beat, Dr. Mothma grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and aimed the jet of puffy foam at him. 

“I’m really sorry,” he choked out, fingers still throbbing. He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “I’m so so sorry.” 

“It’s alright, Finn,” Dr. Mothma said gently. She set the fire extinguisher on a nearby table. “Accidents happen.”

“I’ll pick everything up.”

“You’ll do nothing of the kind. You need to go to the nurse and get your hand taken care of. And next time remember not to touch any recently-heated equipment with your bare skin.” 

He nodded and pushed through the door into the hallway, doing his best to wipe off the foam.

Kalonia, the school nurse, raised her eyebrows when she saw him.

“It’s been a while. I was sure I’d seen the end of you the last time you were in here.” 

He ducked his head. “I’ve been staying out of trouble.”

“That’s good to hear. What are you in for this time?”

“Chemistry lab accident.” He showed her his hand. “And it really was an accident this time.”

She tutted. “There’s always someone on flammability lab day. Let’s get you bandaged up.” 

He’d been coming to her office since the second day of freshman year, when he’d gotten detention and a black eye for starting a rather heated argument with an upperclassman. Finn didn’t usually get into fights, for all his talk about retribution he tended to be a fairly non-violent person, but he’d been different back them. Too scared to join the theater department or the GSA, and he hadn’t met Rey or any of his other friends yet. 

Ever since that day he’d been back more often than was probably necessary, always with an “accident” that was either genuine or related to a run-in with the First Order. In spite of the shenanigans of his youth he’d managed the charm half the staff into regarding him with some degree of fondness, even when he forgot his homework or dropped things in chemistry. 

So if he was that good at socializing with adults, why couldn’t he bring himself to talk to a boy his own age?

“There’s something on your mind today,” Kalonia said. It wasn’t a question. 

Finn sighed. “Just…personal stuff.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s this boy I like, and I’m not sure how to tell him about it.”

“Poe Dameron?” She laughed at his stunned expression. “I talk to Principle Organa who talks to Han who sees the two of you in rehearsal every day. It’s not exactly a secret.”

“It is to him.” Finn closed his eyes. 

“Just suck it up and be honest with him. Poe’s a good kid. Even if he doesn’t return your feelings, I’m sure he’ll be gracious about it.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I’m definitely right.” Kalonia finished wrapping his hand. “Besides, I think it’s most likely you’ll hear the answer you’re hoping for. He’s never done theater before yet he’s playing your love interest. What does that say about his feelings for you?”

“I…guess I’d never thought about it like that.” Finn stood to go. “Thank you for the advice.”

“Anytime. Now go, you’ll be late for third period.”

He walked in during the middle of one of Mr. Solo’s stories about his questionable days as an archaeologist. Rey gave him a concerned look as he took his seat next to her. 

“What happened?”

“Dropped a test tube and burned my hand.”

She winced in sympathy. 

“Hey Rey?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m going to talk to Poe today.”

She smiled at him. “Good. It’s about damn time.”

He returned the grin in spite of himself. “Yeah.” 

Even with support behind him he was nervous. The feeling persisted as he and Rey went over the study guide for their impending history final, and increased exponentially as lunch drew near. He turned to Rey as they entered the crowded cafeteria. 

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good ide—

She shoved him forward and he stumbled a few steps toward their regular table. Poe was already waiting there, with Jess and a few other arts kids. Finn noticed Rey’s expression shift when she caught sight of Jess with slicked-back hair and a blazer, all dressed up for some unknown reason. 

“Something wrong?”

She blinked. “What? No. Stop trying to distract yourself from the mission at hand.”

“I wasn’t—

“Whatever. Just go talk to him.” 

She was acting strange, but he didn’t have time to think about it, because just then Poe noticed them and made his approach. 

“Hey.” 

Finn fixed his gaze studiously on the floor. “Hey.”

Poe turned to Rey. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Finn about something.” 

“Of course.” She left them and Poe looked back to Finn.

“Let’s go somewhere more private,” he said in an undertone. 

They made their way through the tables to the back exit and stepped out into the yard behind the school. Usually there would be more students scattered about, but it was nearly December and already too cold for anyone to want to bother. Finn wasn’t sure what felt more numb—his brain or the rest of his body. 

Poe swallowed and offered him a shaky smile in an obvious display of false bravado. “So who talks first? You talk first, I talk first?”

“I’m sorry,” Finn said.

Whatever Poe had been expecting to hear, it wasn’t that. 

“For what?”

“For avoiding you. I should have just told you.”

A look of apprehension flickered across Poe’s face. “Told me…”

Finn gulped. _It’s now or never._ “Told you…that I like you. That I would like to be with you.”

For a moment Poe only stared at him blankly, and then comprehension dawned on him and he began to laugh. Somewhat alarmed, Finn wondered if perhaps he shouldn’t have taken Kalonia’s advice after all and just kept to himself instead. But them Poe recovered himself enough to speak.

“Sorry. I just…” He laughed again. “I’m surprised. And also an idiot.” 

“Meaning?”

“Right. Okay. So when you ran out of the bathroom on Halloween, I thought I’d messed up big time. Never mind that kissing you was the best thing that had happened to me all semester, I was sure I’d ruined everything and that you didn’t like me in that way and wouldn’t want to be friends anymore.”

“I thought the same thing,” Finn told him. 

“It’s why I kept my distance. I was afraid.”

“Me too.” Finn ventured half a smile. “We really were idiots.”

“Yeah.” Poe stepped closer. “So…it’s true? You really do like me?”

“Pretty sure I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”

“Of course.” 

“So…we’re good now?”

Poe bit his lip and nodded.

“Good.” Finn laughed suddenly. “I’ve been letting this get to me for a month now when I could have just said something. Rey’s never going to let me live this down.” 

“She can’t be as bad as Jess. I swear she would have manufactured some reason to lock us in a closet together if I hadn’t promised her I’d talk with you.” 

Finn slipped his hand into Poe’s and the other boy cast him a look of faint surprise, gaze softening. 

“Does this mean we’re dating now?” Finn asked. 

Poe frowned. “I don’t know. Does it?”

Finn considered the question a moment. “I think so. Is that alright with you?”

Poe grinned. “Finn, buddy, I’ve been waiting for us to date since the start of the semester.” 

“Then we have a lot of time to make up for.”

“Maybe we should get started.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by the Subways and “Scared” by Nonono. Also, the tracklist for _Return to the Forbidden Planet_.

It was tech week, it was finals, and Rey had taken to locking herself in her room with a pile of snacks and an even taller stack of textbooks, and generally exuding stress from every pore. The musical opened in three days. No one felt ready. Rehearsals now lasted until nine after school every day, and she knew that was tame in comparison to the hours kept by most professional theater companies, but the actors of most professional theater companies weren’t high schoolers with a full honors courseload and exams every day. 

She was up until one in the morning after a particularly grueling practice, going over the next day’s physics final with Jess. 

“I don’t see what you have to be so worried about,” she said. “Your dad’s teaching the class. You’re going to be fine.”

“But that’s the _point_ ,” Rey groaned. “I have to do better than what’s expected of me to justify getting an A in a subject taught by my legal guardian.” 

“You Skywalkers are so dramatic. I still think you’re lucky.”

“Lucky to have a friend like you who’s willing to stay up this late with me, maybe.”

“Ew, sentimentalism. That’s my cue to hang up.” But Jess didn’t sound like she minded, and Rey’s heart gave one of those funny stutters had been happening with increasing frequency over the past few weeks. 

“Alright,” she said, pleased with how normal she was able to make her voice sound. “Good night.”

“G’night, Skywalker. See you in hell.” 

By which she meant the nightmare that was end-of-semester classes. Rey hung up, hiding a tired grin. 

After an unexpectedly harrowing literature test the next day she was prepared to leave the country and take up hermitude as a full-time occupation, but when physics rolled around and Jess dropped into the seat next to her with what felt like an inappropriately upbeat attitude Rey wondered if she should rethink her idea. 

“Have you been possessed by an alien since the last time I spoke to you?”

“Nope.” Jess deposited a small, ribbon-tied box into her hands. “I brought you something.”

Rey opened it to see a cupcake from the bakery a few blocks away, chocolate chip with a swirl of frothy pink frosting and a delicately patterned paper wrapper. 

“Oh. Ohmygod. Jess. You shouldn’t have.” 

Her friend waved aside her protestations. “Take it, that’s five dollars I can avoid spending on a wholly unnecessary third cup of coffee. Besides, you are in dire need of some sugary encouragement.” 

Rey made a mental note to pick something up the next time she was at the hardware store Jess was so fond of. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

“Anytime.” Jess punched her arm.

They set about their test, which didn’t seem quite as daunting now. Rey amended its rating on the disaster scale—one to My Idiot Cousin Has Become World Dictator And Everything Is Chaos—to about a nine. 

_Or, eight point seven_ , she thought after it was finished. _One down, three to go._ Plus performances.

On that front, at least, things seemed to be improving. Now that Finn and Poe had gotten past their melodramatic avoidance phase, they’d become the pillars of the show. Their stage chemistry was back to its former glory—better, in fact, and sometimes they had to be pulled apart so that the rest of the group could move on. 

Opening night was upon them more quickly than any of them wanted to believe. It was the last day of the semester, which meant a flurry of last-minute exams interspersed with a random assortment of cheesy holiday-themed movies. Most of the students were in high spirits, looking forward to their well-earned vacation, but the cast and crew of the winter musical were bound together by an aura of mutual terror. 

At exactly seven minutes after three they were all gathered in the front rows of the auditorium, watching as Mr. Solo took his place behind the podium for his usual inspirational(ish) pre-performance speech. 

“Well,” he said, “here we are. After a semester of dealing with you imbeciles and all your drama, we’ve finally made it. We’ve had some hard times—” The look he gave them (the First Order and Finn and Poe in particular) showed how much of an understatement that was. “—but we got there. And in spite of everything, I think we’ve got a pretty good show put together. So let’s go out there tonight and kick some ass. Make me proud.” 

The students cheered. 

“Alright, you’re dismissed for dinner. Be back by five thirty.” 

Finn turned to his friends. “I vote we get pizza.”

“We always get pizza,” Rey said. 

He began to chant. “Pizza, pizza, pizza.”

“Finn—

“ _Pizza, pizza, pizza._ ”

She sighed. “Fine. You are so obnoxious.”

“Pizza is delicious.” 

“I’m with him on this one,” said Jess. “I want pizza too.” 

Rey threw up her hands. “Then pizza it is.”

They ran into Snap Wexley on the way, and together the five of them crammed into a booth at the low-brow Italian restaurant a few blocks down from D’qar High. It was a favorite spot for students, particularly anyone involved in afterschool activities requiring large time commitments. That meant the theater nerds were regulars by this point, and the couple who owned the joint had even shown up their performances on occasion. 

They lingered over their meal, in part because they had the luxury of time on their hands, but more than that they shared a sense of nervous anticipation. 

“If I forget my lines,” said Finn, “I’ll just start making out with Poe onstage. That’d be in character.”

Rey laid her head face down on the table. “I take back everything I ever did that encouraged the two of you to be together.”

“They did reach the gross couple-y stage rather quickly,” Snap observed. 

“You have no idea,” said Jess. 

Finn just stuck his tongue out at them and linked hands with Poe under the table. “You’re all just jealous.”

“I am perfectly content wallowing in the miserable shreds of my pathetic love life, thank you very much.” Jess knocked back a swig of root beer. 

“Definitely jealous,” Poe said. She punched him. 

“All of you are ridiculous,” said Rey.

Finn looked up at her, a glint in his eyes. “And how’s your love life working out? I hear Phasma knows a thing or two about—

She stuffed a piece of pizza into his mouth before he could finish.

“For the record, that was over more than a month ago.”

“Phasma is terrible,” said Jess. “You should date me instead.”

Rey went red. “I…uhm.”

“Lighten up, Skywalker, I was joking.” Jess elbowed her. “Like the two of us would ever be together, right?”

“Right.” Rey felt suddenly and inexplicably sad, in a way she couldn’t quite describe. Her cheeks were still warm. 

“It’s almost time,” said Snap, checking his watch. “We should probably start heading back.”

They parted ways once they arrived at the theater, Jess and Snap off to do pre-show equipment checks and the others to the dressing rooms. Rey was beginning to feel the tingling terror-slash-excitement sensation she always got the night of a first performance. 

She suited up. Next to her, Phasma laced her boots, ignoring the surrounding palaver. 

Before long the stage manager was calling places and it was time. The castmembers filed out into the wings. Rey lagged behind. 

“Phasma?”

The other girl paused. “Hmm?”

“Even though you’re evil, I’m glad you’re my wife.”

She snorted. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Break a leg out there.”

“Same to you.”

“Literally, if you’d like.” 

“You can break every bone in your body for all I care,” said Phasma, “but not until after the show. I’m not going to let you ruin my performance.”

“It’s my performance too,” Rey grumbled, following her out of the dressing room. Even though she wasn’t in the first scene, she wanted to watch the show begin from backstage. 

As she crept to the back of the wings, she heard the final strains of Mr. Solo’s curtain speech, accompanied by the first few notes of _Wipeout_ , which took the place of an overture. The lights went up. 

“Captain on the bridge!”

The castmembers onstage saluted as Finn strode into their midst. 

“Carry on.”

The voyage had begun.

Rey slipped back to the dressing room to wait for her cue, along the way colliding head on with someone moving in the opposite direction.

“Rey?”

“ _Jess_? What are you doing backstage?”

“Had to grab something.” Jess pulled her into a quick hug. “Break a leg, by the way. Even though I think I told you that already.”

“You can never say it too many times.” Rey felt a curious prickling sensation in the pit of her stomach that she would have attributed to performance nerves if they hadn’t been suddenly brought on by her brief contact with the other girl. Maybe they were just performance nerves that had been delayed until now. That was a thing that could happen, right?

“All of the elements of our plan are in position. I’ll be ready when the time comes to make the final move.”

There was that, too. Not only was it opening night, but it was the night they would finally enact their revenge upon the First Order. That gave her more than enough cause to feel on edge. 

“You should do it right after the curtain call, to ensure maximum viewership.”

“I will.” 

Kylo Ren came stumbling offstage, crashing into Jess. He spun around angrily. 

“What are you _doing_ here,” he hissed. 

“Leaving.” She turned to Rey. “I’ll see you when the time comes, okay?”

Rey nodded. Kylo glared at her. “What was that about?”

“You’ll see.”

“I hate you.”

“I hate you more.”

“Well I hated you first.”

“God, you are so _annoying_.”

“Hey idiots,” Pamich hissed, appearing next to them. “Both of you need to go on soon.”

Rey readied herself for her entrance. She stepped out onto the stage-left platform, bathed in a blue light. There was a keyboard flourish, and she began to sing. 

It was a larger audience than she’d been expecting. Almost a full house. She wondered if Jess was there, somewhere, watching from her place with the student band or already inside the tech box behind the sea of eyes. The prickle in her stomach intensified, and for a moment she faltered. From his place in the captain’s chair Finn frowned in concern, so slight that only she noticed it. 

She grew more confident as she got into the scene, relaying the tragic tale of Doctor Prospero’s exile at the hands of his wife, Gloria, with all the grandeur of a true Shakespearean actor. Which wasn’t actually all that grand, because thanks to sophomore year theater history she knew about all the 1500s scandalous shenanigans that had gone down at the Globe. But still. Stressed as she had been earlier, it all faded away as she poured herself into her character. 

The show passed by rather quickly after that. They made plenty of mistakes, because live performance was _about_ making mistakes, and Kylo Ren moved her cardboard gun from the props table, which was one of live theater’s seven deadly sins. Jess and Phasma got into a heated guitar battle during “She’s Not There” that was terrifying to behold. But there were moments, many of them, when all the disparate pieces of the show seemed to come together, and Rey felt awash in pride for her fellow castmembers and the production they had created. 

She took her place onstage for the finale, beaming in spite of herself. Finn hoisted Poe into his arms, bridal-style, and didn’t even drop him like he had during most of their rehearsals. The closing song began to play. They made their bows. The crowd erupted into applause. And as she stood there laughing at Finn and Poe’s stupid curtain call dance, she wished she could catch the moment in her hands and keep hold of it before it fled forever, save some part of it to carry with wherever the future might take her.

“It’s time,” Finn whispered in her ear, and she nodded. He raised a thumbs-up symbol above his head, to the public an innocent gesture of enthusiasm, but to a certain set designer in the tech box much more than that. 

At his signal the image on the projector behind them cut out. A second later it was replaced with a photocopied portrait of a high school yearbook page. Too-tight clothes worn too stiffly, a tear evident down the seam of the backside. A bad haircut with what looked like the remains of bird excrement dripping from it. A scowling face. Next to it, the name Kyle Lauren in a simple font. 

The slide changed. A group of three conspirators caught mid-conversation, identities unmistakable in spite of how different they looked now, their expressions blurry and awful from the truly atrocious camera angle. 

The series of pictures continued in a display of the First Order’s most embarrassing freshman year memories, all captured on camera by an anonymous but heroic graduate of the yearbook club. Kylo had attempted to round up and destroy all copies of the issue, to limited success, but now nearly four years later it was coming back to haunt him. He paled. 

“You _didn’t._ ” 

Rey just flashed him a bright smile and bowed once more to the crowd, a rush of triumph surging through her. Hux was staring at the photographs with abject horror, and Phasma’s head was buried in her hands. Finn and Poe high-fived. 

The audience’s applause was dying down now, murmurs of confusion replacing it. Han dragged himself out of his seat and took the stage, glaring at the cast, and leaned into the microphone. 

“And now let’s welcome the tech crew students and the head of their department, Lor San Tekka, who made this entire performance possible.”

The applause resumed, and the tech kids filed out for their own bow. Rey scanned their ranks and saw Jess falling into place near the back of the line. Jess caught her eye and winked, and she looked away. _You should date me instead._

It was all too much, all at once, so overwhelming she felt dizzy, the noise and the glare and the people and the pounding in her ribcage. She thought she might float away at any moment, or be sick. Her hands were shaking. 

And as Rey caught sight of Jess’s smile under the glow of the stage lights something she’d been struggling with for months suddenly clicked into place. 

_Oh._

She understood it now. She understood everything.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which people bond, Rey is confused, and not much plot actually happens. Chapter playlist: “If You Should Try To Kiss Her” by Dressy Bessy and “Where is my Mind” by the Pixies.

Posted in the backstage area of D’Qar High School’s auditorium:

RULES FOR CAST AND CREW OF _RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET_ :  
1\. It is imperative that you show up to rehearsal prepared, ready to work, and **on time**  
2\. Amendment: except for Phasma because she is currently the only good player on the school football team.   
3\. No you do not get an exception just because you’re the spaceship captain Finn.   
4\. _Stop asking for exceptions._  
5\. kylo ren needs to stop fucking touching everyones props!!  
6\. Language. ~ Han  
7\. oh you’re one to talk. ~ Finn  
8\. I can fire you right now if I want to. ~ Han   
9\. If Phasma shows up late to rehearsal one more time I’m taking over her part. ~ Connix  
10\. Go ahead and try. ~ Phasma  
11\. I will DESTROY EVERYONE who keeps stepping on my lines (Finn this means you)  
12\. Shut up Kylo. ~ Finn  
13\. Will the actors please stop leaving their costumes on the floor of the dressing room, it’s making the design team really upset. ~ Jessika Pava, Acting Head of Tech Crew  
14\. “acting head” screw you Jess I’ve been here just as long as you. ~ Snap  
15\. Amendment: Jessika Pava, Acting Head of Tech Crew Deal With It Snap   
16\. Will everyone PLEASE stop using the rules list as a personal message board. ~ Your Director  
17\. Never. Gonna. Happen.  
18\. Finn I know that was you and I repeat that _I can fire you_  
19\. Hey will whoever took my gun please give it back I need it to do my scene. ~ Rey  
20\. Oh I took it for modifications and totally forgot to give it back!! Sorry Rey. ~ Jess  
21\. Not a problem! Just return it to me when you’re finished :) ~ Rey   
22\. Poe Dameron and Finn need to stop making out onstage, it’s interfering with rehearsals and making the rest of us jealous. ~ anonymous castmember   
23\. I second that. ~ Snap  
24\. By “jealous” do you mean “utterly repulsed at their unnecessarily public displays of affection” ~ Hux  
25\. _Enough._ ~ Han   
26\. If Kylo Ren steals my prop one more time…  
27\. I. Didn’t. Steal it.   
28\. Everyone will refrain from arguing with each other in this particular public forum or be sent to my office. ~ Principal Organa  
29\. Always listen to my wife. ~ Han 

\----

After the glory of the Resistance’s revenge on the last day of school, winter break was uneventful. Principal Organa had given them detention out of obligation, which they would need to report to on the first day of the new semester, but she’d offered them the smallest of smiles when giving out their sentence so she couldn’t be all that angry. Now all Rey could do was relish not having to homework for a couple weeks and spend her evenings contemplating the fast-approaching inevitability of the future. 

And also her surfacing feelings for Jessika Pava. Because apparently that was a thing. 

It had all happened so suddenly. Rey closed her eyes and remembered the victory coursing through her veins, catching Jess’s gaze, heart leaping in her throat, feeling for just a moment like the floor had been swept out from underneath her. The way everything had come together. Jess laughing, teasing her, punching her arm. 

_Ridiculous_ , she told herself. 

And it was ridiculous, because her weekend of performances had been over for three days now and all she could think about was what it might feel like to run her fingers through Jessika Pava’s hair. And that was a problem. 

So she did what she usually did with problems like these and decided to ignore it. _I can keep this under control_ , she thought. _I can keep this from going any further._ Because it was ridiculous. Because she couldn’t afford to be ridiculous right now. 

Instead she devoted herself to her studies. She was aspiring to have a job with NASA someday, after all, and that wouldn’t come easy. She’d have to get her degree in engineering or bio or one of the other required fields, and then work as a pilot for at least three years before she could apply for the Astronaut Candidate Program. From there she hoped to make it all the way to Administrator and become the first ever woman to hold that title. Though if someone else beat her to it, she wouldn’t complain. 

And with her entire future spread out in front of her like that, it made sense to spend more time preparing for it than considering her present situation. 

“You’re crazy,” Finn told her when he came over one day and saw all the textbooks spread across her floor. “A week ago you were complaining to me about having too much schoolwork, and now you’re voluntarily throwing yourself back into it.”

“This is different,” she insisted. “This is just stuff I enjoy doing.”

“Whatever you say.”

And it was true, she did enjoy it. And it made for the perfect distraction. 

She still hadn’t texted Jess. 

All this unnecessary avoidance. She was turning into Finn. But what could she say? _Hey, I hope your break is going well, also please date me because I think I might like you more than I’m letting myself admit._ It would be absurd. She didn’t even know if she wanted to date the girl. Perhaps this was all merely a passing attraction, and it would fade, like everything else, with time. 

“Are you alright?” Luke asked her at dinner one night. “You seem distracted lately.”

“I’m fine,” she told him. “There’s just a lot on my mind.”

“How well I know that feeling.” 

“Oh yeah?”

He sighed. “There’s been some upset on the district board of directors ever since break started.”

She frowned. “Do you know what it’s about?”

“Superintendent Snoke is making a fuss again. Something about ‘inappropriate relations’ in a certain school musical.”

“He doesn’t mean…”

“I’m afraid he does. But don’t worry. We haven’t done anything against the board’s policy this year, so he has no legal reason to take issue with the production.”

“He’s barbaric,” she murmured. “What did we ever do to him?”

Luke smiled tiredly. “Absolutely nothing. Heaven knows how we ended up with an imbecile like him in control of our education system.”

“Do you think he’ll make trouble about it at the start of the next semester?”

“It’s hard to say. I wouldn’t be surprised, but I don’t think it’s anything for us to be concerned about at this point.” He paused. “Look at me, rambling on about work problems when we’re supposed to be on break. You should be out having fun, not hanging around home with an old person like me.”

“Fun,” Rey mused. “Is that something normal teenagers are fond of?”

“Normal is boring.”

“That’s true.” 

He studied her a moment in silence. 

“You know you can always talk to me if you need anything.”

She mustered a smile. “I know.” 

\----

Christmas came on a quiet, snowy Friday morning. Rey and Luke did presents—she got him a sweater with math equations printed on it, and he got her a scale model of the Apollo 11—and then they went out to brunch, which was by this point a hallowed tradition. This year they ordered heaping platters of falafel and baklava from a Lebanese kitchen down the street, and Rey was inexplicably reminded of festival day in Jakku. She wondered if it still took place on the solstice every year, or if the town had finally transformed into the dried-out shell it had always seemed destined to become. 

After eating she’d planned on curling up under a pile of blankets and marathoning cheesy holiday specials with Luke, but Finn called demanding that she come over to celebrate, so she laced up her boots and headed out to meet him. 

A snowball hit her square on the head as she approached his building, and she looked up to see him standing on the balcony of his apartment, grinning down at her, Poe standing at his side. 

“Well now. This means payback.” She sent a projectile of her own sailing in their general direction. It hit Finn on the leg. 

“Ow!”

She smirked. “I’ll be right up.”

The three of them made mugs of cocoa and huddled over them on the floor of Finn’s room. Rey poked him.

“Why is your apartment so cold?”

He grimaced. “Spent too much on the heating bill last month. I’m trying to cut back.”

“No shit, it was like a furnace in here last time. I’ll bring over some blankets for you.”

“Rey, it’s fine.”

She shrugged. “Don’t blame me if you die of hypothermia.”

Poe wrapped his arms around Finn. “He won’t be dying of anything on my watch.”

“Except, perhaps, for _la petite mort_.”

They stared at her. She blushed. 

“Look it up if you’re so curious. Is Jess coming?”

Poe shook his head. “She’s visiting her grandparents.”

Rey was both disappointed and very relieved to hear that. Finn nudged her. 

“You okay? You seem weird.”

“Everyone keeps asking if I’m okay,” she grumbled. “I’m very okay.”

He grinned. “Excuse me for caring.” 

“Whatever. Change the subject.”

“Did you know that Pamich is having a cast party on New Year’s?” 

She raised her eyebrows. “Another one?”

“Halloween doesn’t count,” said Finn. “This is the real one. Just the theater department. All night long. Should be a good time.” 

“I don’t know,” said Poe, “I’d rather not relive the drama of Halloween.” 

“It won’t be dramatic because we’re together now. And anyway I’m making you come. And you too Rey, you can’t spend all your break just _studying_.” 

“Fine.”

Poe pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Jess the plan.”

“Um, you don’t need to…nevermind.” 

Finn looked at her strangely. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I told you, I’m _fine_.” 

“Alright.”

“Seriously.”

“Al _right_.” He frowned, and then his face lit up. “I know! I still haven’t given you my Christmas present.” 

He handed her a slightly squashed cardboard box and motioned for her to open it. Inside she saw a book of Ray Bradbury stories and a record from the Cantina Band. 

“I got them at this secondhand store nearby. They’re both used, but I didn’t think you’d—hey!”

She tackled him in a hug. He picked himself up, wincing. 

“Glad you like it.”

“Thank you, Finn.” 

“Sure. No problem.” He paused. “Thank you, too. For being my friend and all.”

“Um,” said Poe, “should I leave? I don’t want to intrude…” 

Finn grabbed his hand. “Nonsense. Boyfriends are friends too.” He grinned suddenly. “And what could be friendlier that a quiet, low-stakes snowball fight?”

Rey snorted. “Quiet, huh. Bring it on.”

Poe stood. “I’m taking you both down.”

“Not if I take you down first.” 

“I’d like to see you try.”

Finn slung his arms around them. “This is going to be amazing.”

And it was. And for the first time in days, for at least a few minutes, Rey forgot all about the confusion plaguing her emotions. 

Then New Year’s arrived.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist: “Satin” by Rainer and “Beloved” by Say Lou Lou

December 31st, 2015, 9:03pm: New Year’s Eve. 

_Stay cool, Rey._

She smoothed the folds of her dress, tried to breathe deeply. She was standing in the entryway of Pamich’s house, flanked on either side by Poe and Finn, preparing to take the plunge. Jess had arrived earlier with some of the other tech kids. She was in here somewhere now. Rey still hadn’t spoken to her since the start of break. She smoothed her dress again.

Finn prodded her forward. “Move. I have a party to attend.”

“ _We_ have a party to attend,” Poe corrected him, taking his arm. “Where should we start?”

“According to Rey there’s a very promising storage closet on the second floor.”

“Perfect.”

“I guess I’ll just stay here by myself,” she said.

Finn shook his head. “Negative. Go find Jess or someone. I’ll meet back up with you soon, okay?” He looked at Poe. “Soon-ish.” 

She didn’t seem to have any other choice. She wandered through the rooms on the first floor, making occasional small talk with other actors or members of the production crew. Connix challenged her to a rap battle, which was her cue to conveniently disappear down the basement stairs. She wound up in the TV room, an old black-and-white movie on the screen, the couch in front of it packed with tech kids. 

“Rey!”

And Jess. Jess was also there. 

“It’s been a while,” she said, pushing herself up from the upholstery. “I was beginning to get concerned.”

Rey looked at the ground, embarrassed. “Sorry. Break has been—well, entirely uneventful, actually, I have no real excuse.” 

“Me neither. But we’re here now, so that’s what counts.” 

They stood a few moments in silence. Jess coughed. 

“Are Poe and Finn anywhere around here?”

“In the storage closet upstairs, I believe.”

“Ah.” 

“They’ll probably be a while.”

“We have a while.” Jess gestured to the couch. “Come on, join us.”

There were already four people sitting on it, and Rey thought, with what she tried to pretend wasn’t a flutter of anticipation, that if she and Jess were to cram themselves on as well they would end up at a dangerously close proximity. 

“I’ll sit on the floor,” she said. 

Jess shrugged. “Whatever you want. Budge over, Karé.”

The women’s basketball captain moved to make more room. Rey glanced up at her curiously.

“Isn’t this a theater department party?” 

“Jess recruited me to help with painting,” she said. “They needed extra people. Plus Pamich and I are tight so she said I could come. Great show, by the way. I loved your performance.” 

“Thanks.” 

Rey noticed that she had her arm slung casually around Jess’s shoulders. _But Finn does that to me all the time and it definitely doesn’t mean anything._

“Were you two friends before?”

They exchanged a look. 

“I suppose,” said Jess. “We went to the same middle school.”

Karé poked her ribcage. “Don’t go into all that. I’m trying to forget those days.” 

“Aren’t we all?”

“I take it back,” said Karé. “Forgetting about middle school would mean forgetting about you dork as well.” 

“On second thought,” said Rey, “I’ll take the couch.” 

Jess grinned. “By all means.” 

Rey perched atop the armrest, trying not to get too near her, but with so many people she couldn’t help brushing her shoulder lightly against the other girl’s. Her skin prickled. _Not gonna go there_ , she reminded herself firmly. She didn’t want to start the new year off as an overdramatic mess. (After the new year she could be dramatic all she liked. Perhaps she’d try to challenge the record Finn had set the previous semester.)

“So are you ready for detention on Monday?”

“Oh god, not even a little.” Jess made a face. “Believe it or not, I’ve never actually had detention. My mother nearly blew a gasket when she found out.”

“I’ve had detention before,” said Snap from the other end of the couch. “It isn’t so bad. I’m surprised Principal Organa let you off so easy.”

“Rey’s her niece,” Jess told him. “The rest of us are part of the family by extension.” 

“Actually, I think the real reason we got away with it was because even she knew Kylo had it coming to him,” said Rey. “I can’t imagine having to live with that idiot every day.”

“What I don’t understand is how that devilspawn managed to come from such talented and upstanding parents.” 

“Not that I’m disagreeing with you,” said Snap, “but I don’t know if ‘upstanding’ is _quite_ the word I’d use to describe Mr. Solo. Um, Rey no offense.”

“None taken. You’re not wrong.” 

“Either way,” said Karé, “they both seem like cool people to me.” 

A loud sound came from upstairs. The distant strains of party music cut out, followed by a crash. Jess and Rey shared a worried glance.

“I’m gonna go make sure nothing’s wrong.”

Jess nodded. “I’m coming too.”

They crept up the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. Pamich was standing in the entry hall, hands on her hips, and it front of her—

“ _You_ ,” Rey snarled.

Kylo smirked. “Me.”

“We heard you were having a party without us,” said Hux. 

“We came to crash it,” said Phasma. 

Pamich glared at them. “I didn’t invite the three of your for a reason.”

“Obviously.” Phasma stepped over the threshold. “But we’re here now, so what are you going to do about it?” 

“This is my house.”

“I repeat: what are you going to do?”

“She’s such an asshole,” Jess murmured. 

“ _Fine_ ,” Pamich spat. “But if you ruin my party I’m suing all of you for trespassing on private property. And I’m going into pre-law next year, so don’t think I won’t.”

“A dancer and a genius.” Jess frowned. “I may need to rethink my life ambitions.”

“Those being?”

She shrugged. “My point exactly.”

With the chaos receding, they used the First Order’s appearance as an excuse to seek out Finn and Poe, and found them making eyes at each other on the living room sofa. 

“Gross,” said Jess, elbowing her way to a seat next to them. Poe mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “jealous loner” and turned to Rey.

“I hear the First Order’s shown up.”

She nodded. “Unfortunately. They ruin everything.”

Most of the people at the party were elsewhere—still clustered by the front door, or raiding Pamich’s fridge, or tucked away in some back room for privacy. The living room was quiet but for the soft music playing in the background. Twinkle lights hung down from the ceiling, bathing everything in a warm glow, and through the window Rey could see snow falling outside. The scene was so perfect it seemed wrong. 

Then Kylo Ren threw himself into a chair opposite them and she remembered why peace was too good to last. 

“You’re all going to be sorry,” he said. 

Jess cupped a hand around her ear. “What was that? I can’t hear you over the sound of my not caring.”

“It’s not a threat,” said Kylo, “it’s a fact. You will be sorry.” 

“That was a nice stunt you pulled on opening night,” said Phasma, coming to stand next to him. “I hope you don’t expect there to be no retaliation.” 

Poe crossed his arms. “Is this supposed to be intimidating? Because if so you’re failing spectacularly.” 

“Just like Finn’s outfit,” said Hux. 

“Hux,” said Kylo, “don’t speak.” Hux flipped him off. 

“You’re always promising revenge, Kylo,” said Rey, “but your delivery is less frequent.” 

“Make no mistake, cousin, this time there will be trouble. There has been an awakening. And it’s coming for you.”

“You’re absurd,” Rey told him, trying to ignore the chill that his words sent down her spine. He wasn’t shouting, or throwing a tantrum, or even whining. And a rational Kylo Ren—that was a rare and ominous thing. 

He raised his eyebrows. “That’s a weak insult. You should prepare some better ones by the next time we meet.” He stood, motioning for his companions, and Hux followed him out. Phasma gave a mocking bow before joining them. 

“Is it just me,” said Finn, “or was that actually a little menacing?”

Rey frowned. “It’s not just you.” 

“They can bring it on,” said Jess. “Nothing they can do is something we can’t handle.”

“I’m with Jess,” said Poe. “We’ve taken them down in dodgeball, we’ve embarrassed them in front of the school. We’ll be fine.”

Rey wanted to believe them, but something held her back. The tech kids from downstairs filed their way into the room. 

“Good news,” said Snap, “the First Order stormed out. Now everyone’s meeting in the basement so we can watch the ball drop in HD.” 

“And we will accompany you.” Poe held his hand out, and Finn took it. Jess turned to Rey.

“What do you think?”

Rey bit her lip, then offered her own hand. “Wouldn’t miss it.” 

Jess twined her fingers with Rey’s own. Her palms warm and calloused, and Rey was trying very hard not to think about it. 

Most of the guests were already gathered in front of the TV when they arrived. Karé waved at them, and Jess detached herself to cross the room and say hello. Snap ducked behind Poe. 

“Cover me.”

“What?”

“There is a cute boy from set design here and I don’t want to be seen like this.” 

Finn pointed at him. “I thought you were straight.” 

“I did too, for a while.” 

“We’re both bisexual,” said Poe. 

Snap nodded. “We’re going to start a band in college. The Bi Guys: a folk rock duo featuring stunning visual effects by yours truly.”

“Or the Bi Spies.”

“We’re Bi Give Us Pie?” 

“I like that one,” Finn said. Poe smiled.

“We’ll work out the details later.” 

“Everyone quiet,” Pamich called, “it’s nearly midnight.” 

She switched the TV to the appropriate channel, where in the center of Times Square the countdown had begun. Only two minutes to go. Jess found her way to Rey’s side again. 

“In two minutes it’ll be the year we’re _graduating_ ,” she said. “That’s insane.”

“Everything in high school has been building up to this,” said Rey. “2016. I’ve almost forgotten that there will be years after 2016, that there’s going to be a 2017 and a 2018 and a 2019 and all the rest.”

“Unless the world ends before then.”

“That’s always a possibility. Have you met my idiot cousin?” 

Less than a minute now. Rey joined the others in the customary chant. _Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…_

Everything seemed to happen in a blur. As the cries of _happy New Year_ went up, Finn leapt out of his seat, careening into Rey and knocking her against Jess. The two girls stared at each other, ears ringing, faces close, and Rey lifted a tentative hand to her friend’s waist. 

And then Karé Kun whirled Jess around and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went into this fic vowing that I would not fall back on stereotypical romantic rival tropes, and here I am. (Consequently, the glorious melodrama has been intentional from the start.)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in the last chapter we established that I am evil, and now that I’ve put together a general framework for the next 15ish chapters I can assure you that I will continue being evil, but I can also promise you that it’ll definitely be worth it in the end. Stay tuned. Chapter playlist: “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by the Smiths, “Mr. Spaceman” by the Byrds, and “Million Different Ways” by Papa vs Pretty.

The first day of the new semester dawned bright and early on a particularly frosty January morning. Rey shivered as she threw off her blankets. She could hear Finn downstairs, helping himself to the contents of her fridge while he regaled Luke with his various winter break escapades. 

She dressed and made her way into the kitchen. As soon as Finn spotted her he dropped the carton of orange juice he was holding and ran up to her, locking onto her shoulders. 

“Rey I have and problem and you need to help me.”

She squirmed out of his vice-like grip. “Okay, okay, just tell me what it is first.”

“Poe’s taking me to dinner with his parents tonight.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It’s _terrifying_. I’ve never met them before. His mom is like, head of the PTA and can hold her own with Principal Organa when it comes to intimidation. She’ll take one look at me and never let me speak to her son again.”

“Breathe, Finn.” Rey picked up the orange juice carton and poured him a glass. “That’s melodramatic even for you. It’ll all work out. You’re a good kid, and Poe’s parents will see that.”

Finn bit his lip. “Maybe. But, can you…I mean, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming with.”

“What, so I can third wheel as your security blanket?”

“There’s strength in numbers, Rey. And Poe says Jess will probably be there so you won’t be alone.”

She frowned. “That bit might not work entirely in your favor.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Never mind.” She offered him a grin. “So if I go with you to dinner, what’s in it for me?”

He smiled tentatively back at her. “I’ll pay for your food?”

“You have yourself a deal.” She grabbed her backpack from a hook near the front door. “Come on. Let’s go see what kind of hell we’re in for today.”

\----

Homeroom passed as uneventfully as ever. This semester she had Mr. Solo, which meant she was in store for more preposterous anecdotes than she would’ve thought possible and the occasional visit from Principal Organa. But her aunt and uncle were always entertaining, and she’d managed to land the class with Finn while avoiding the First Order entirely, so she thought that had all worked out rather nicely.

Unfortunately her luck wasn’t to last. Next up was literature, which was rather lacking in Jessika Pava and Poe Dameron but rather not lacking in Phasma and Kylo Ren. They spent the entire hour throwing spitballs at the back of her head, until Ms. Kanata chastised them for their lack of maturity. After that they just made faces at her whenever she made the mistake of glancing behind her. 

Rey’s schedule had stayed more or less the same—she still had physics second period, and Luke had made Jess her lab partner again. 

“How are you holding up?” 

She frowned grimly down at her science folder. “Contemplating homicide. Or, you know, just more public humiliation.”

“I take it you ran into our least favorite nemeses.” Jess reached up to pull something out of her hair. “Is this paper?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Her friend shrugged. 

“Alright,” she said, studying her in a way that made Rey suddenly feel as though all the air had been drained from the room. 

“I—

“Yes?” Jess breathed, her eyes searching and too close, lips ever-so-slightly parted. Rey leaned forward in her seat, and for a moment she couldn’t ignore it, or deny it, or wish away the part of her that was so very taken with the girl sitting only a few inches away. 

And then Luke decided to walk in and start class, and Jess turned back to the front of the room.   
After that the rest of the day went by quickly, and all too soon it was time for their detention. The four friends met in front of the empty chemistry room, their area of confinement for the next few hours, after the final bell had rung. Mr. Statura let them in, frowning.

“Well. This is a group I never expected to see in here. At least not all at the same time.” 

“Did Principal Organa not tell you about our escapades? We’re repeat offenders of the crime of pranking her son.” 

He shook his head. “And why does it not surprise me that you were involved in this, Dameron?”

Finn raised his eyebrows. “Someone hasn’t been telling us everything about his past exploits.”

“I was a freshman,” Poe said, by way of explanation. 

They took their seats behind desks at the front of the room, while Mr. Statura lectured them on proper detention procedure. There was to be no talking, no use of electronic devices, and no leaving until 6:00pm. Finn raised his hand.

“What if we have to use the bathroom?”

“Go now or forever hold your pee.” 

Jess sniggered. 

“Careful,” the teacher said. “If Principal Organa catches you having fun, she might assign you something worse.”

For the sake of appearances, Rey thought, if nothing else. She took a book out of her bag and began to read. Less than five minutes into the session, someone tapped on the window next to her. By reflex she looked up, and discovered Kylo’s face sneering down at her. She glared at him.

_What are you doing here?_ she mouthed. 

He smirked. _Ruining your day._

Hux came to stand next to him, making an obscene gesture, and she rolled her eyes at them. _Grow up._

_Never._

Phasma appeared to their left. She drummed her fingers lightly— _menacingly_ —against the glass. Now Finn had noticed. He drew a finger across his throat, but the First Order paid him little heed. _They’re going to get us in trouble_ , Rey thought. _Well. More trouble than we’re already in._

Fortunately, Mr. Statura had noticed the racket, and he chose that moment to look up from his desk and scowl disapprovingly at the three teenagers. He walked over and opened the window. 

“If you and your friends don’t clear out, Kylo, I’m telling your mother.” 

“Yeah, and what’ll she do about it?” he grumbled, but he slouched away. His companions followed suit. Mr. Statura turned back to the detention crew. 

“No more interruptions, alright?”

Finn looked like he was on the verge of arguing that _technically_ the disturbance hadn’t been their fault, but Poe kicked him under the table and he went back to his homework. Rey was about to do the same when a crumpled slip of paper landed in front of her. She glanced up in confusion and saw Jess eyeing her from the next desk over. She motioned to the projectile. 

Rey picked it up and unfolded it to see a note scrawled in the other girl’s handwriting. _You’ve been rather quiet today._ She looked back at her friend and shrugged. Jess pointed at the paper again and mimed writing. Rey jotted a brief message and tossed it to her. 

_How’s Karé Kun?_

Jess reddened slightly. _Not fair_ , she mouthed, and Rey shrugged again. A second later the paper had returned to her desk. 

_I don’t make a big deal when you go around on dates with Miss Evil._

She rolled her eyes. _It was one date. One. And as I recall everyone made a big deal, including you._

_Fair. But that doesn’t mean you have to return the favor._

_I’m your friend, Jess. I’m contractually obligated to tease you._ Jess looked up from the paper and made an attempt at a smile of reassurance, then looked back down at the book she was reading, brow furrowed.

The reaction was perplexing. Rey was used to the other girl giving her a hard time, and had figured that a little light teasing might help them return to their normal routine, because things still hadn’t been quite the same since New Year’s, even if they both pretended otherwise. But instead Jess had seemed genuinely shaken, even serious. Rey didn’t know what that meant, but she suspected it couldn’t be good. She spent the rest of detention buried in homework, pretending to herself that she wasn’t worried.

\----

At long last it was six o’clock, and they were released for the evening. Finn spread his arms wide as they walked out into the evening air. “Freedom.”

“Not quite,” said Poe. “You still have to meet my parents.”

“Oh. Right.” He wilted. “So where are we going?”

“Yavin 4. It’s a little restaurant downtown.”

“I’ve been there,” said Rey, “they make good tamales.” 

“They make good everything,” said Jess. “I think it’s the only place Shara and Kes even go anymore. 

Poe sniffed. “I resent that accusation. My parents are nothing if not adventurous.” 

“And speaking of adventurous,” said Finn, “why don’t we _adventure_ our way over to the restaurant and get this over with?” 

Poe drove. They reached Yavin 4 a few minutes ahead of his parents, so they secured a table and settled in to wait. Finn was fidgety. He’d changed as soon as they’d arrived into a nice jacket and bow tie, which he kept adjusting, gaze skittering anxiously around. Rey grabbed his hand under the table. 

“Hey,” she said, “you can do this.” 

He nodded, taking a deep breath. “I can do this.” 

Just then Shara Bey and Kes Dameron strode into the room. Rey had never set eyes on them before, though of course she’d heard stories (not to mention the fact that Poe’s mother had saved them with that phone call to Principal Organa during homecoming). The teenagers all stood at their approach. 

“Jessika!” Shara Bey called. “Always a pleasure to see you, my dear.”

“And you,” Jess said, smiling. “Have you met my friend Rey?”

She shook her head. “You’re Luke Skywalker’s girl, aren’t you? Poe speaks very highly of you.”

“That’s very kind of him,” said Rey, suddenly bashful. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Next to her, Finn was shaking hands with Poe’s father. “I’m honored to meet you, sir.”

He waved a hand. “There’s no need for such formalities. Please, call me Kes.” 

“O—Okay, Mr. Damer…Kes.”

They finished the introductions and took their seats. The teenagers were all crowded into the booth at one end of the table, while Poe’s parents pulled up a couple of chairs opposite them. They were quiet as the waiter brought them menus and glasses of water, the tension among them beginning to creep into painfully awkward territory. 

“So Finn,” said Kes, “Poe tells us you’re to blame for his newfound interest in theater.”

He ducked his head. “Um…yeah. I heard him sing and I thought he’d be a valuable asset to the winter musical.”

“The three of you were magnificent,” said Shara. “Are you planning on performing in the spring too?”

As Finn launched into a discussion on D’Qar High’s theater department and potential productions for the next semester, Rey could see his nerves begin to melt away.

“Clever strategy,” Jess whispered. “I’m sure they thought picking a topic he’s passionate about would help him feel more at ease.”

Rey glanced over at the rest of the table. “They seem to be getting along quite well.”

“Guess there’s no danger of Finn being rejected, then.”

“We can hope.”

“Yeah.” Jess looked at her. “Hey. I’m sorry about earlier. I was acting kind of weird and I think I might’ve upset you.”

“Not at all,” Rey assured her. “I’m sorry too.” She paused, lowering her voice. “And…I’m happy for you. I thought you should know.”

“What, because of that thing with Karé Kun?” Jess’s face was inscrutable. “Thanks. But I—

She stopped, whatever she had been about to say cut off by the arrival of their food. She didn’t bring it up again during the rest of the meal. 

Afterwards they thanked Shara and Kes for the lovely dinner before parting ways once more. Poe had offered to take them all home, so they piled once more into his car and set off. Finn called shotgun. He was considerably more relaxed than he had been at the start of the evening.

“Your parents are surprisingly nice,” he said. Poe raised an eyebrow at him. 

“I’m glad to hear it.” He gave his boyfriend a soft smile. “You’re…actually the first boy I’ve ever brought home to them, so I’m happy it went well.” 

In the backseat Rey cast a glance at Jess, staring out the window, her face a mask. She turned and caught Rey’s eye. “What?”

“Nothing.” She returned her focus to her own window, watching as the sky grew darker and the streetlamps flickered on, one by one, trapping the falling snowflakes in faint beams of light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have not read a single published work involving Shara Bey or Kes Dameron. My knowledge of both comes solely from extensive Wookiepedia searches and tumblr screenshots


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More exposition that the first Hobbit movie. Apologies for the delay (again), I’ve just finished the laborious process of moving in at my university. (This is my first fanfic update as a college girl, exciting.) The current plan is to have this fic finished by the end of December, but we’ll see how that goes. Chapter playlist: “AC” by the Bad Doctors and “She’s a Beautiful Mess” by Skypark.

“We’re doing something a little different with the spring theater production this year,” Mr. Solo announced. “Or should I say… _productions_.”

“This sounds foreboding,” said Rey.

Finn shook his head. “This sounds _awesome_.” 

“I must admit,” said Jess, “I’m intrigued.”

They were sitting in the first row of the auditorium for the first meeting of the second-semester theater department. There were a few new faces—students who had seen the winter musical and wanted to try their hand at performing—and a lot of old ones, but the best part was the definite absence of the First Order. 

“This year,” said Mr. Solo, continuing his speech, “I would like to honor some of the seniors who have been with us since the very beginning by allowing them the opportunity to direct a play of their own choosing.” A swell of excited murmuring swept the crowd, and he held up his hands, quieting them. “Now, there are a few conditions. All plays chosen will have to be cut to under an hour. Also, I have veto power on both scripts and, if truly necessary, staging. Hopefully that’ll keep Snoke off our asses. And lastly, I have final say in who gets to direct, and I _will_ drop your show two weeks from opening night if you give me a reason to. Other than that, you have free reign.” 

Finn looked about ready to fall out of his seat. 

“I’ve just had five epiphanies and am dreaming of my future stardom.”

Rey shoved him. “We don’t even know if we’ll be directing yet.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “A project to honor the seniors who’ve been committed to the theater department? Tell me that isn’t tailor-made for us.” 

She couldn’t resist a smile. “Okay, you’re right. I’m excited now.” 

“I need to do research. I need to find a play.” He paused. “I need to find _Poe_.” 

“Where is he, anyway?” Rey asked. “I haven’t seen him yet today.”

Jess frowned. “I’m not sure, actually. I told him about the meeting but he said he had personal stuff to take care of. I kind of thought one of you might know.” 

Finn sighed. “Apparently it’s so personal he can’t even tell his own boyfriend. He texted to tell me he wouldn’t be at school today and that’s the last I’ve heard.” 

“He’s definitely being mysterious. I vote we show up at his place and demand answers.”

“Can’t,” said Rey. “I promised Luke I’d help him do physics lab prep when I get home.”

Jess clucked her tongue. “So responsible. What are we going to do with you?”

_I have a few ideas about what you could do with me_ , Rey thought, and then winced. _That was terrible. Never say that again._

Jess was looking at her funny, so she flashed her a thumbs up and willed her heart to stop racing. 

Finn looked worried. “I hope Poe is okay.”

“He’s fine,” said Jess. “He probably just got the flu.” 

“I don’t think you actually know what _fine_ means.” 

While they bickered Rey tried to think of a play she would want to direct. The hour-long time constraint could prove difficult, but there were plenty of shows that dragged on and on anyway and would benefit from some extensive editing. And there were one-acts to consider too. Really, the possibilities were endless. 

Jess nudged her. “Hey. I was thinking I’d try something different this time around and stage manage. Wanna team up?”

“Do you mean it?”

She shrugged. “Sure, why not? I bet you’d make a great director.”

Rey flushed. “You’re lucky your flattery is convincing.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“Yes. But I get to choose the show.”

“Wouldn’t dream of anything else.”

And Rey knew that Jess had only chosen her because they were friends—good friends, in fact—but as soon as she was out of anyone’s line of sight she found herself smiling. 

The next day she walked to school by herself, and arrived at the main entrance to see Jess and Finn standing out in the snow, heads bent together. She approached them.

“This is an odd couple.”

“Rey.” Finn pulled her into their huddle. “We have a situation.” 

“Which is?”

“We found Poe,” said Jess. “Last I checked he was walking around campus with a beautiful stranger.” 

“A boy, in fact,” said Finn. “Someone our age.”

That didn’t bode well. Rey tried to think of an explanation.

“Poe doesn’t have a brother or anything, does he?”

Jess shook her head. “He’s an only child. And I know it can’t be a member of his family because I’ve met most of them.”

Finn looked at the ground morosely. Rey put an arm around him.

“Hey,” she said, “this is Poe we’re talking about, remember? He’s like this high school’s golden boy. He’s probably just helping a new student get to class.”

“A _beautiful_ new student.” 

“Well, you’re beautiful too. So I don’t see what cause you have for worrying.” 

The warning bell rang, so they made their way to their homerooms, agreeing to talk the matter over with Poe at lunch. But when lunchtime came Poe was nowhere to be found. 

“Okay,” said Rey, “I will admit that I’m a little suspicious.”

They were standing outside the doors to the auditorium when they finally saw Poe. He was walking toward them from the opposite end of the hallway, the mysterious new boy trailing in his wake.  
“Hey,” he said, clearly oblivious to the tense atmosphere surrounding him. “I would like to present BB8, the foreign exchange student staying with my family for the semester.” 

Jess slapped her forehead. “A foreign exchange student, of course. I should have known, you always talked about how you wanted to host someone.” 

“We thought you’d gotten a secret second boyfriend,” said Rey, and Finn elbowed her. 

Poe reddened. “Wh—really?” 

“I mean…” Finn looked at the ground. “…kinda?” 

“Then I’m so sorry I kept it a secret. I wanted to surprise you.” 

Jess shook her head. “Incredible.”

BB8 mumbled something to Poe and he smiled. 

“BB8 says they apologize for any trouble they might have caused,” he said.

“It’s all good,” said Finn, posture relaxing. He stuck out his hand. “Hey. Nice to meet you.”

The exchange student considered it a moment, then shook it tentatively. 

“We were actually on our way to meet with an advisor,” said Poe, “but I think BB8 can handle it, right buddy?”

“I can come with,” Jess offered. “I have some tech business to take care of anyway.”

BB8 murmured something in a language Rey couldn’t make out and Poe clapped them on the back. They nodded, whispering a sound of gratitude to Jess, and together they headed off down the hallway. Poe turned to the group. “They’re shy.”

“So what country are they from?” Finn asked.

Poe shrugged. “Every time I try and ask they say ‘that information is classified’ and start rocking back and forth. But their Spanish sounds fluent enough.”

“Fantastic,” said Rey, “they can help me practice for my test tomorrow.” 

“Well I took Korean,” said Finn, “so you two are gonna have to translate.” 

“No wonder you live your life like it’s a kdrama.”

He punched her. They were making their way down the hallway when something caught his eye and he stopped suddenly. Rey, who had been following close behind, ran into him, and knew something was up when he didn’t even glare at her. She turned her gaze to the poster, which he was now contemplating with the same level of focus he directed at a shirtless Poe Dameron.

“If only you gave your math homework that much concentration.”

He waved a hand at her. “Shush. I’m scheming.”

“D’Qar Battle of the Bands,” Poe read aloud. “What’s so special about that?” 

“Nothing really,” said Finn, “only I think I’ve heard rather a lot about how a certain group of our classmates are in a band together.”

Poe nodded slowly. “I take your meaning.”

Rey folded her arms. “Are you both _insane_? We don’t even have a band. What are we supposed to do?”

Finn clapped her on the back. “Rey, my good friend: this is when we make one.”

\----

They met Jess after school to discuss the idea. 

“So just to clarify,” she said, “you’re suggesting we form a band, enter the competition, and beat the First Order at their own game, humiliating them in the process?”

Finn nodded. “You in?”

She grinned. “Where do I sign up?”

“Just wait a moment.” Rey held up her hands. “We need to think this through before we commit to anything. Do we really have time to start a band right now? In addition to the obvious theater department time constraints we have school to think about.”

Finn elbowed her. “Haven’t you ever heard of senior slide?”

“Some of us have AP tests. And others of us have _jobs_.”

“It’s a stupid job anyway,” Finn muttered. Customer service didn’t always agree with him.

“It doesn’t have to be a big deal,” said Poe. “I have a few songs I could rearrange into group numbers that wouldn’t be too challenging to learn. And Jess and I already have guitars so that takes care of the instrumental component.”

“And Rey and I can sing.”

“I haven’t even said if I’m in or not,” she grumbled.

“You are though.”

She sighed. “Yes. But if this starts getting in the way of everything else I have going on then I’m out.”

“Deal,” said Finn. 

She took the event pamphlet from Poe and inspected it. 

“It says the competition will be held at Starkiller Base,” she said, glancing up. “What’s that?”

“A metal club on the West Side,” said Jess. The others looked at her. “What? I take my sister there whenever the New Mos Eisley is playing.” 

“Is your sister Kylo Ren.”

“Please. She has _much_ better taste.” 

“So how do we make sure the First Order loses?” Rey asked. 

“We could sabotage their instruments,” Jess offered. 

“Against the rules,” said Finn. “I have a better idea.”

“Which is?”

“We play this one totally fair and totally hand them their asses.” 

“It’s risky,” said Rey. 

“It’s worth it,” he insisted. Jess stretched.

“It’s our senior year,” she said. “We’re never going to be young like this again. Why not have fun while it lasts?”

Rey nudged her. “You should have warned me you’d be a bad influence.”

Jess grinned. “I would have thought you’d know that by now.”

“Oh yeah,” said Finn, “all those honors classes must really be a strain on your reputation.”

“Don’t forget about all the help she gives to the theater department,” Poe added. “That’s what really cements her rebel status.”

Jess buried her head in her hands. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” she agreed. “But I do need you to start working on our act. All of you.”

“Never fear,” said Finn, “I’m always full of ideas.”

“That’s ominous,” said Rey. 

He nodded. “Yes. Yes it is. The First Order is going _down_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for senior directed projects comes from my own high school experience, when my theater class was allowed to choose half-hour cuts of a play we wanted to direct and submit them to our teachers for review. I pitched Star Wars. I got rejected. #stillbitter


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter playlist: “Ramona” by Velociraptor and “Semi-Charmed Life” by the C’mons.

One night Rey’s dreams were of a suspiciously saccharine character, and when she woke up something felt slightly different about the world. Then she remembered what day it was and sighed. Finn would not be joining her that morning, and she suspected the same would me true of the next one as well. 

This was one small way in which Rey was like many other teenagers: she had a complicated relationship with February 14th. 

Luke was already gone—hiding in his office from compulsory heterosexuality and romanticism, most likely, and she couldn’t blame him because she would rather be there doing the same thing. Last year they’d had Finn over for aromantic movie night while he bemoaned his lack of a date. This year, of course, that wasn’t going to be an option. The only person single enough for commiseration was a certain Jessika Pava, and she couldn’t exactly complain about her feelings to the girl herself.

…could she?

The Valentine’s Day dance was tonight, and though she had planned on engaging in her typical boycott of the event, perhaps a change of plan was in order. Tickets were available at the door, after all, and if she was accompanied by another person…

She shook her head. This line of thinking was of little use to her. There was more to the equation than her own hormonal yearnings, she had to keep reminding herself, like homework and the future and Jess’s feelings and Karé Kun.

But asking couldn’t do any harm, could it?

(It could ruin your entire friendship, a voice told her. Everything you’ve built together over the course of this year.) 

Thinking about it too much made her head hurt, so she finished packing her books and set off for school. 

As was customary, the halls were festooned with hearts and streamers in pastel shades of red and pink. The worst of it seemed to be located in the corridor leading up to the gym, which Rey supposed made sense. She was glad she’d gotten her gym credit out of the way last semester. 

She was shaken from her thoughts when she noticed Jess striding down the hall towards her. 

“Rey. I need to talk to you.”

Her heart skipped a beat, then started speeding twice as fast as usual. “Yes?”

“We need to figure out the cast list for your show.”

 _Of course_ , she thought, biting her lip, because what else could it have been?

For her senior directed project she had chosen the play _Proof_ by David Auburn. Jess had been permitted to sign on as her stage manager, and they’d both sat at the table on audition day to review their prospects. They were supposed to have their show cast by Friday, and it wasn’t going well. 

Her earlier hope that the First Order wouldn’t interfere with the theater department this semester had almost come true—Hux and Kylo were steering clear, but Phasma had come to auditions. She’d been good, too. And Jess was refusing to see that. 

“I just think you should give Karé a chance,” said Jess. 

“Why, because she’s your girlfriend?”

Okay, so maybe Jess wasn’t the only problem in this situation. But Rey was _not_ about to spend the next four months working on a project with a girl who was the subject of most of her envy lately, not to mention several angry journal entries. Even if she was kind of alright, for a non-actor. 

Jess reddened, though whether that was with embarrassment or frustration Rey couldn’t tell. “Why do you always have to go there?”

“Because I—

Rey stopped. She’d been about to admit something quite stupid, she realized, and she’d have to be more careful in the future. 

“I wanted to ask you something,” she said instead. 

“Okay.” Jess sighed. “But I do think we should figure out casting first.” 

“I just think Phasma is more suited to playing Catherine,” said Rey. “She has the venom, but I don’t know if Karé does.”

“She’s the _First Order_ , Rey. I don’t know if venom covers it.”

“We can’t just limit ourselves to the people we like, we have to be better than that if we want to create the best show possible.”

Jess snorted. “Oh, you’re one to talk about limiting roles to people you like.” 

“Meaning?”

“ _‘I just think Phasma is more suited to playing Catherine.’_ Bullshit. You just want her in the show because she’s somehow managed to charm her way into your pants even though she’s our _enemy_.” 

“Charm her way into…so that’s where you want to go with this.” Rey folded her arms. “Fine. If you think Phasma _slept_ her way into the cast entire _months_ after our only date, then I can only imagine that Karé is headed down the same path, given the fact that you couldn’t stop _flirting_ with her long enough to carry out an actual audition.” 

“I was not flirting with her. We’re not even _dating_.”

“Well neither are me and Phasma.” 

They glared at each other a few moments in heated silence. The bell rang, and Jess turned away. 

“I have to go to class.”

“So do I.”

“But we’re talking about this later.”

“Fine.”

“ _Fine_.” 

Rey spun on her heel and stalked off in the opposite direction. As frustrated as she felt, she couldn’t help wondering if she was being a bit unfair to Jess and Karé both. Okay, that was a lie. She _knew_ , she was being unfair, and unreasonable, and all the rest. She was being selfish, which she felt horribly guilty about, and yet…

She sighed, pulling out her phone. 

**Rey the gay (8:32am):** _Can we get lunch together, just the two of us? I know it’s Valentine’s Day but I want to talk to you._  
**Big Deal (8:33am):** _I’ll be in front of the auditorium doors w/ pizza @12. be there_

After a moment of hesitation, she typed another message. 

**Rey the gay (8:34am):** _If you can, please meet me outside the physics room after school. There’s something I need to say to you._

There was no reply, but she hadn’t been expecting one. 

* * *

When lunchtime came Rey made her way to the auditorium doors, where Finn took one look at her and without speaking handed her a box of takeout pepperoni. 

They crouched, backs to the wall, eating in silence, until Finn set down his plate and looked at her pointedly. 

“Okay. Talk.” 

“I fought with Jess today.”

“This is the first time that’s happened, I take it.” 

“I guess so,” said Rey. “It was over something stupid. The casting for our play. Except also I think it wasn’t really about the casting at all.”

“Meaning?”

“Nothing.”

He took a dubious bite of pizza. “It’s not nothing.”

“It’s nothing I want to get into right now.”

“Alright.” He paused. “Do you want my advice?”

She nodded. 

“Talk to her. Explain how you’re feeling or whatever this is, and listen to what she has to say.”

She bowed her head. “And what if it’s not that simple?”

“It is that simple,” he said. “Trust me.” 

“Okay,” she said, “I’ll talk to her.”

“Good.” Finn checked his phone. “Looks like it’s about time we headed back to class.” 

“Probably.” Rey stood, stretching. “Thank you. For the advice. And the pizza. And for prying yourself away from Poe.”

“Hey, what are friends for?”

That afternoon, as soon as the bell rang, she jumped out of her seat and headed to the physics lab. As she approached she could see another figure standing outside the doors.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Jess had her hands in her pockets, eyes on the floor. “You said you had something to say to me.”

“I do.” Rey swallowed, taking a step forward. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m…sorry too.” 

“You’re right,” said Rey. “Karé did well at auditions. She’d be a valuable asset to our show.” 

“But she’s not as suited to the part of Catherine as Phasma,” said Jess. “You were right about that.” 

“But if I were to cast Karé as Hal…”

Jess nodded slowly. “That could work. Then we just need a Claire and a Robert.”

“That won’t be too difficult. I have my eye on a few options.”

“So…are we good?”

Rey let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. We’re good.”

Jess stepped casually closer. “What was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh. Um.” She took a deep breath. “Would you like to go to the dance with me?”

“Aw man.” An apologetic expression. Not the one Rey had been hoping for. “I would truly love to, but I promised Karé we’d go together.” She looked genuinely regretful.

“Oh, right. Of course.” Rey looked down. “Sorry to bother you.”

Jess attempted a smile. “Bother me anytime.”

“I just…I thought I’d ask. For the sake of friendship, and everything.”

“Friendship,” she said. “Yeah.”

Rey turned away, walking back down the hall. “Have a nice evening.”

“Catch you later, Skywalker.”

And there was something new in Jess’s tone, something that made Rey’s eyes sting and her skin tingle, something that caught her off-balance. And then she had another idea.

* * * 

It was late by the time Rey found herself outside the front door of the apartment complex. Not too late, but later than necessary, perhaps. She steeled herself and rang the bell.

A few minutes went by, and then Phasma opened the door. “Rey? What are you doing here?”

She shifted uncomfortably on the steps, suddenly unsure of what to say. “My plans for tonight kind of…didn’t work out. I was wondering, I mean, if you’re not busy…”

Phasma nodded slowly, motioning her inside. 

They sat next to one another on the sofa, and for a while neither spoke. 

“I want to know why you’re here.”

Phasma’s voice was slow and even, her face impassive, but there was something of a challenge in her eyes. 

Rey bit her lip. “Jessika Pava turned me down.”

“Alright. And what are you doing _here_?”

Her gaze sank to her hands fidgeting in her lap. She was quiet a moment, searching for the right words. 

“To make good on our arrangement,” she said. “If you want.”

Phasma paused. “I’m not going to be your surrogate. If you came here looking for someone else then I can’t help you.”

“I came here looking for you.”

“As long as you’re sure.” 

“I’m sure,” Rey said. 

“I thought I was evil.”

“You _are_ evil.” 

“Rey Skywalker’s rebellious experiment,” Phasma said, deadpan, but she looked amused. “I’m honored.”

Rey shoved her. “You’re terrible.”

“Marvelously so,” she agreed. “Think you can handle it?”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add this when I uploaded, but I'm sorry about the longer-than-usual wait for an update! I was without a computer for a few weeks (rip Nora, 2013-2016), but I got that worked out so I should be back to my usual (still later than necessary) schedule.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Phasma is a queen, and the fourth wall is transparent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phasma’s playlist: “Trouble” by the Butchies, “I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast” by Ida Maria, “F*ck You Dude” by Molly Davis, and “Stay Away” by Heavens to Betsy

After Rey left, Phasma took very long shower and tried to sleep. She soon found her mind was racing too quickly for there to be any chance of that, so she crept out onto the roof of her apartment building, hoping the night air would help clear her head. 

From up above, the lights of the city were spread out like tiny candles below her. This was her favorite hour of the night—pitch black but for the constant glow of electricity, and at times like these she would imagine the city was burning. She sighed. Such notions were impractical. (And an unbidden thought came to her: Rey, she was a practical girl, and that was a thing Phasma couldn’t deny.)

And here her mind was, circling back to the scavenger again. (It would seem Kylo’s nickname was catching.) She was clearly enamored with Jessika Pava—she had been for a while, Phasma thought, even since their date all the way back in October, but tonight was the closest she’d come to admitting it. And that was fine. More than fine, really, because they were still enemies, regardless of whatever else went on between them. She didn’t feel about Rey the way Rey felt about Jess, and it didn’t bother her.

And if it didn’t bother her, why was she wasting her time thinking about it?

Frustrated with herself, she laid back, hands beneath her head, gazing up at the stars. 

It had been an unusual year. D’Qar High’s theater department, along with its resident nerds, was slowly taking over her life. An unforeseen consequence of Kylo’s revenge plot. She hadn’t even really intended to come back for the spring semester, but then…well. There would be plenty of time to discuss that during the First Order’s rehearsal tomorrow. Kylo was in a frenzy about some battle of the bands he thought they should participate in. Whatever. Phasma was more than fine with annihilating some competition. 

Feeling sufficiently tired, she snuck back in through the window and fell into bed. But it was a while longer before any sleep came. 

She overslept the next day, and missed all of first period. By the time she had dragged herself up and made her way to school she was late to chemistry. She strode into the classroom and dropped to a seat next to Kylo, scowling. 

“You look angrier than usual this morning.”

She didn’t answer, and he glared at her. “Fine. Be that way.” 

He spent a few minutes trying to get a rise out of her before leaving her to her brooding. When the First Order met at their usual table for lunch, he sat down in a huff. 

“Phasma’s pissed off about something and she won’t tell me what,” he announced.

Hux cast him a skeptical glance, stuffing an unamused forkful of salad into his mouth. “Maybe she’s upset at being confronted with your face so early in the morning.” 

“Screw you.”

“You wish.” 

Phasma left her friends to their argument and set about her tray of pizza. Maybe, if there was enough time left after band practice, she could head to the gym. She’d been so busy she’d hardly had the chance to go in the past couple weeks, which was frankly inexcusable. 

There was a sharp tap on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Kylo scowling at her. “You listening?”

“Sorry,” she said, “no.”

“The cast lists for the senior directed projects get dropped today,” he said. “You’re stopping by the auditorium after school, right?”

“I am. I might be late to practice.”

He waved it aside. “Whatever. Are you prepared to take the necessary steps if things don’t go our way?”

“Of course.” 

“Good. I’ll expect a full report when you arrive.” 

Her classes passed as quickly and uninterestingly as they usually did, and when the bell rang she found her way to the auditorium’s front doors, as promised. There was already a small herd gathered in front of them, though they scurried away at her approach. She glanced at the sheet. _Proof Cast List: Catherine…Phasma._

Well. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it reassured her nonetheless. She was glad she wouldn’t be enacting the First Order’s backup plan. Things could have gotten messy, and Phasma wasn’t fond of messy. This made it easier. 

She turned away from the auditorium doors, and was about to head out when she ran across a familiar face. 

“Oh,” said Rey, “hey, Phasma. You see the cast list?”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” Rey said. “I guess you were just the right person for the job.” 

Whether or not that was actually true, Phasma thought Rey really was the one to thank. She hadn’t missed the ferocious looks Jessika Pava had been shooting her way all throughout the audition. Probably the only reason she’d gotten a part at all was because Rey had stood up for her. That put her in the debt of her enemy, and that was tricky territory to be in. After all, Phasma was a villain of this piece, and she had never claimed otherwise, but she was an _honorable_ villain, which made the whole thing more complicated. Perhaps things would get messy after all. 

“Just don’t show up late to rehearsal like last semester.”

Phasma smirked at her. “I make no promises.”

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.”

“Maybe.” Phasma paused. “I have to go.” 

“I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow,” Rey said. “ _On time_.” 

Phasma made a noncommittal grunt of acknowledgment, but privately she thought she should make half an effort, at least. 

She drove herself to Kylo’s house for practice. When she arrived her two bandmates were already in the basement waiting, instruments out, in the middle of what could be referred to politely as a heated discussion and less politely as a pointless tantrum. Sighing, she grabbed the drumsticks from where they lay discarded on the floor and hammered on Hux’s kit. 

“I thought we were here to have a meeting.”

They shut up instantly, still scowling at each other. 

“Well?” Kylo demanded. “Did you get a part?”

“The lead,” she said, and he grinned, a glint in his eyes. 

“Even better.” 

Hux raised his eyebrows. “How did you manage to land _that_?” 

“My utterly _charming_ personality, how else?” 

He snorted. “How could I have forgotten.” 

“Alright,” said Kylo. “To business.” 

“Let the top-secret Slytherin common room meeting commence,” said Hux. 

“Speak for yourself,” Kylo muttered.

“Kylo, you are literally the most Slytherin person to ever exist. You’re basically Draco Malfoy because you’re always complaining or going on about your dad.”

“You know what, Hux, you don’t get a chapter.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Can you even do that.”

“I do what I want.” 

“Like break the fourth wall?”

“Shut up or I’ll break your _face_.” 

“I will break _both_ of your faces if we don’t get back to the subject.” 

“Phasma’s right,” said Kylo. “We need to finalize our plan.” 

“Sabotage is a dangerous game,” she murmured, fiddling with the tuners on her guitar. “Is it really worth the risk?”

“Revenge is _always_ worth the risk.”

“Kylo’s right,” said Hux. “This is our best chance yet to get back at those little pricks for their constant humiliation.” 

“Acting against our own self-interest though, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“Going to Snoke.” She finished tuning and strummed a few chords, just to make sure. “Some of his policies are awful for the school. And us.”

Kylo shot her a disgusted look. “Who cares about the school? D’Qar can rot in hell, for all I care.”

“And it will. But I don’t want to end up rotting in hell with it.” 

“That’s why we have a contingency plan.” He folded his arms. “Unless you’re too _scared_.”

“Kylo.” There was a subtle note of danger in her voice, although her face and demeanor stayed calm. “Given everything that you know about me, do you think _fear_ is really what’s keeping me back?” 

He glared at her full force for a moment, then wilted. 

“Fine,” he muttered. “I just don’t want you backing out on us. Just because you’re friends with my cousin—

“Friends? Rey and I don’t even hang out.”

The look he gave her this time was a little too perceptive for her liking. She forgot, sometimes, that behind all the whining and temper tantrums Kylo could be half clever. 

“It won’t be a problem,” she said. 

“I hope you’re sure about that.” 

And Phasma knew she did not have to justify herself to him, or to anyone, but she found herself nodding slowly. Letting someone else get in the way would be much too cliché. 

“So we go to Snoke,” said Hux, “then what? Why would he listen to a few random kids like us?” 

“He’s been waiting for years to take down Principal Organa’s administration,” said Kylo, “and I’m her son. That gives us an in. We’ll be the mole.” 

Phasma frowned. “And I’m the mole within the mole.”

“Exactly.” 

“Oh look,” said Hux, “I get to be a background character again.”

They devolved into another argument after that, which resulted in a few minutes of huffy silence and Kylo reluctantly announcing that they needed to practice for the upcoming battle of the bands. They spent several hours in the basement screaming in time to the music until Mr. Solo came down to kick them out. He and Kylo yelled at each other for a few minutes, which was Hux and Phasma’s usual cue to tiptoe up the steps and slip out through the back door. Hux closed it behind them. 

“How long do you think they’ll go at it this time?”

Phasma offered a halfhearted shrug in response. 

“Kylo’s right,” said Hux. “You _are_ moodier than usual.” 

“And you’re asking for me to kick your teeth in.” 

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Just try not to brood by yourself too much. You can at least brood with us, you know.” 

“Sounds like a fun bonding activity.”

But he was serious, so she sighed, restraining herself from making any more snarky comments, and offered him a ride home. By the time she dropped him off it was late, but the gym would still be open. She stopped at the apartment long enough to grab her bag and headed out again. 

The First Order’s plan did perturb her, whatever she’d said to the contrary. Kylo was a good schemer when he wanted to be, but she wasn’t sure he’d thought this one all the way through. He might want to get back at his parents, but he was still living under their roof, for the time being, which meant anything that came crashing down on them would impact him too. And then she’d have to hear about it. 

There was the matter of deception, too. _A necessary subterfuge_ , she told herself, but something about the face Rey would make when she found out left a bad taste in her mouth. But she had promised it wouldn’t be a problem. She would go along with the plan. And if Kylo messed up again, as he sometimes did, well. She would be there to repair the damages. She only hoped the cost wouldn’t be too high.


End file.
